The deer forests of Scotland

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THE DEER FORESTS

OF

SCOTLAND

Only 500 copies of this book will ever be published.

THE DEER FORESTS

OF

SCOTLAND

BY

A. GRIMBLE

AUTHOR OF

DEERSTALKING," "SHOOTING AND SALMON FISHING
AND "HIGHLAND SPORT"

ILLUSTRATED

LONDON

KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO.

LIMITED

Paternoster House, Charing Cross Road, W.C.
1896

J, a > ■

» > >

LONDON :
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

STAMFOUD STREET AND ClIAKING CROS^.

LIST OF CONTENTS.

PACK

Preface xvii

CHAPTER I.— ABERDEENSHIRE.

Balmoral, Ballochbuie and Abergeldie . . r

Glenmuick and Bachnagairn 4

Glen Tana 7

Invercauld Q

Mar lo

CHAPTER H.— ARGYLLSHIRE.

Ardtornish 12

Black Mount 13

conaglen 21

DaLNESS 2 2

Glen Etive 23

KiNGAIRLOCH AND GlENSANDA 24

Jura 25

Laggan, Lochbuie, Isle of Mull .... 44

9S4740

viii UST OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER III.— BANFFSHIRE.

Glenfiddich 55

Glenavon 57

CHAPTER IV.— BUTESHIRE.

Isle of Arran 59

CHAPTER v.— CAITHNESS-SHIRE.

Langwell and Braemore 64

CHAPTER VI.— FORFARSHIRE.

Caenlochan 71

Glencalley 75

Invermark 76

CHAPTER VII.— INVERNESS-SHIRE.

Abernethy 81

Achnacarry . 83

Affaric , 93

Amhuinsuidh and Ardvourlie 94

Ardverikie . 96

Arisaig 97

Arnisdale and Loch Hourn ...... 98

LIST OF CONTENTS. ix

PAGE

Balmacaan lOO

Ben Alder io8

BoBLAiNE 117

Braulen 117

Caennocroc, North . . 119

coignafearn 121

Corriechoillie 125

CORROUR WITH BeNEVRICH 1 26

CucHULLiN, Isle of Skve 135

Culachy 136

Dundreggan and South Caennocroc . ' . . 141

Erchless 142

Farley 143

Fasnakyle 143

Gaick 146

Glencannich 157

Glendoe 158

Glenfeshie 162

Glengarry 168

Glenmore 170

Glenquoich 172

b

Ji LIST OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

guisachan ^77

Inchnacakdoch and Portclair 178

Invereshie 179

Invermoriston 180

KiNVEACHY 183

Knoydart 184

Macdonald or Sconser, Isle of Skye . ." . 188

Mamore or Kinlochmore 190

MORAR 194

Rothiemurcus 197

Struy 198

CHAPTER VIII.— PERTHSHIRE.

Atholl . ". 201

Craganour 209

Dalnacardoch and Stronphadrick. . . . 209

Fealar 210

Glenartney . . . .210

GlENBRUAR 212

Rannoch .... 214

Tulladh-a-Beithe . 217

LIST OF CONTENTS. xi

PAGE

CHAPTER IX.— ROSS-SHIRE.

ACHANALT, StRATHBRAN AND LoCH ROSQUE . 2I9

achnashellach 226

Alladale 227

Aline, Stornoway 228

Amat 230

Applecross 230

Attadale or Bendronaig 232

Ben Damph and New Kelso 234

Benmore 237

Ben Wyvis 238

Braemore . 242

Clunie 265

corriehallzie 266

Corriemullzie 267

COULIN 267

Deanich 269

DiBIEDALE 270

Drumrunie or Coulmore . . ... . . 271

xii LIST OF CONTENTS.

I'AGK

dundonnell 273

Fannich 274

Flowerdale 276

Glencalvie 280

Glencarron 281

Glenshieldaig 283

Inchbae, Strathrannoch and Tolmuick . . 283

Inverlael and Glenbeg 286

Kildermorie 286

KlNLOCHEWE 287

KiNLOCH-LUICHART 288

Leckmelm 290

Letterewe, Fisherfield and Ardlair . , . 291

MONAR 300

Patt, Killilan, Riochan and Glomach . . 301

Rhidorrach 302

Scatwell 305

Shieldaig 306

StRATHCONAN 307

Torridon -,q8

LIST OF CONTENTS. xiii

PAGE

CHAPTER X.— SUTHERLAND.

Ben Hee and Corry Kinloch 312

Glen Dhu, Glen Coul and Ben Strome . . 317

Gobernuisgach 321

Kinloch 322

Glencanisp 323

Uppat 324

/

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Scavengers of the Forest . . . to face page 4

A Jura Cromie
Gaick Forest Lodge

Glenquoich Lodge ....
Mr. D. H. Barry's Three-Horn

Braemore

Calf attacked by Eagle
Lochmore Lodge .

40
148
172
198
242
278
312

PREFACE.

The kind reception given to my book of " Deer-
stalking," in 1888, by deerstalkers as a body,
coupled with the fact that sportsmen in general
passed a favourable verdict on " Shooting and
Salmon Fishing " in 1892, and on " Highland Sport"
in 1894, has induced me once more to put pen to
paper on a subject for which I think there is still
room in the literature of sport, for, as far as I am
aware, no one has hitherto attempted to describe or
relate the anecdotes and statistics of the Scotch Deer
Forests. Before, however, proceeding further with
these pages, I wish to say, as I have previously said
in each of my other books, that I wholly disclaim any
pretension to literary merit. I write as a sportsman
for sportsmen, resting my hopes of success not at all

c

xviti PREFACE.

on neatly turned ear-pleasing phrases (would that
the gift were mine), but solely on the ability to
state in plain simple words a number of facts and
fancies collected together on a subject in which I
know many brother-sportsmen are greatly interested.
In "Deerstalking" I tried, to the best of my power,
to describe the habits and wily ways of the wild
Red Deer of Scotland, and how best to circumvent
them ; for these reasons in that book I wrote entirely
of stag and stalker, saying but little that gave
any idea of the wilds, the morasses, and wastes
of moorland and mountain, over which the red deer
range in unmolested freedom for ten months of
every year. In a word, my " Deerstalking "
treated of the inhabitants of a territory without
describing the nature of the country in which they
lived : for this reason those gentlemen who have
read my "Deerstalking" need not be under any
apprehension when perusing the following pages that
they will be likely to meet with old matter dressed
up in a new form for book-making purposes. To

PREFACE.

speak with absolute correctness, I ought not to style
myself the "author" of this book; "the collector of
these notes " would be the better term, as the real
authors are the forest owners and renters themselves,
with nearly every one of whom I have been more
or less in correspondence. At the present moment
there are just 130 deer forests in Scotland, covering
2.552,383 acres, and of each one I hope to say
something reliable, for the information in all cases
has been derived from the very best of sources,
viz., either from owner or renter, and further afield
I have not sought to go, having received an
early caution from a forest owner, who wrote me
to the following effect when kindly sending the
particulars of his own forest : "You should be careful
about keepers' and gillies' information ; one man near
here I found adding in a newspaper report two stone
and some points to a stag killed on his ground, and he
laughed and said it was necessary 'to make things
good for the papers.' Some stalkers about here also
allow a stone if a stag is left on the hill for a night."

PREFACE.

The reader will see for himself that the knowledge
gathered has in some instances been more copiously
given than in others, but in all cases my best and
most grateful thanks are due to the ladies and
gentlemen who have so courteously and so kindly
helped me, for without their friendly aid I should have
felt it almost impossible to put these pages together in
a sufficiently interesting and authentic form ; and now,
at the end of my task, my earnest hope is that in
them no one will be able to find anything to which
they can fairly take exception. In a very few cases
I have not been able to get any information given
me, and in these circumstances I have stated this has
been the case, while merely mentioning of such forests
that which is public property and known to everyone
who cares to make enquiries.

The wild, romantic, and beautiful scenery of the
deer forests quickly imbues in most men a feeling
of admiration, romance and desire of being able
to soar above mere prose, so as to describe in verse
those ever-changing beauties of nature with which

PREFACE. xxi

this sport brings him into daily contact, and I can
hardly recall to mind any of my friends who have
been much on the hill, who have not confessed
to having had their feelings, chivalrous, poetic, and
romantic, quickened and enhanced as "they sat
by the mossy fountain on the top of the hill of the
winds," while searching with their glasses the depths
below for those whose " skins gleam red in the
sunshine." Granted that the presence of a good
stag in front of one does away with every feeling of
romance or enjoyment of beautiful scenery, yet it
often so happens that stags are not visible for many
an hour — or the stalker may be called on, as is so
often the case, to " play patience " and endure the
tedious monotony of a long wait on a lying deer, let
us say on the banks of the Sword Loch of Corrour ;
surely then it will help him to pass such time
more quickly and pleasantly if he be acquainted with
the story of how the loch won its name, and so enabled
to recall to life and picture to himself the curious
scene, such a mixture of treachery with chivalrous

xxii PREFACE.

confidence, that was once enacted on the banks of
Loch-an-Claimadh. With regard to these stories,
most of them founded on actual fact, for there is no
deer forest in the north, or hardly a hill in any
of them, but what has at one time or other been a
witness to deeds and events, a knowledge of which
could not fail to make the country more interesting
to those pursuing their sport therein ; therefore, as far
as I have been enabled to do so, I have mentioned
all such details of bygone days, and regretting not to
have been qualified to do more in the same direction,
I take this opportunity of humbly suggesting to
forest owners and renters that they would derive
additional pleasure from their days on the hill if
they were to make themselves "well acquaint" with
the traditionary incidents of the old times of the
particular forests in which they are interested. The
counties, together with the deer forests in each, have
been dealt with alphabetically, but no mention has
been made of rentals, for many are never let, while
those that have tenants are subject to variations just

PREFACE. xxiii

the same as other marketable things, and I can only
assure anyone thinking of renting deer ground that
he will speedily discover that to find out " how much
to pay ? " is the easiest part of the business.

It has been a custom with me to dedicate
my books to some kind friend who has given me
happy days with deer or grouse or salmon, but
death, alas ! has been busy in their ranks, for first
Sir Robert Bateson Harvey, then Henry Spencer
Lucy, and lastly, in October of this year, my old
friend Colonel John Hargreaves, for so long the
renter of Gaick Forest with Glentromie grouse shoot-
ings, have each joined the great majority, and the
longer I live, the truer I find the saying that "the
deaths of our friends are the milestones of our lives."
Yet, however, I am loth to abandon my old habit,
and therefore I dedicate these pages to His Grace
the Duke of Westminster as a trifling acknowledg-
ment of the kindness shown me by him, the
Duchess and all their family at Lochmore, where this
past season I had the good fortune to stalk over

xxiv PREFACE.

one of the most wild and beautiful parts of Suther-
land. For over thirty years the Duke has been
the renter from the Duke of Sutherland of four
forests rolled into one, namely, Lochmore, Stack,
Ben Hee, and Gobernuisgach, or the whole tract of
ground once known as " Lord Reay's country ; " and
I doubt if any gentleman has a better knowledge of
deer and forest management generally, and this, com-
bined with an almost too chivalrous regard for the
deer themselves (for from the moment a stag roars
at Lochmore he is safe from the rifle, and stalking is
discontinued some time in the first week of October),
has ended in producing an average yearly kill over
the whole ground of nearly two hundred of the
heaviest-bodied stags to be heard of in Scotland.

THE

DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.:...

• • • •

Chapter I.

ABERDEENSHIRE.

In this county there are only five deer forests, but
as they spread over an area of some 230,000 acres,
it will be seen that, though numerically small, they
are very large in extent. Taking them then ill
alphabetical order, there comes first : —

HER majesty's FORESTS OF BALMORAL, BALLOCHBUIE,
AND ABERGELDIE.

This latter ground is rented from Mr. Hugh
Mackay Gordon, and the three forests together
represent an area extending to about 50,000 acres
of lofty mountains covered with moss and grey

B

3 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

granite boulders, broken up by corries of green

grass ; the less high hills being heather-clad,

and these again having their bases clothed with

■yvpod consisting of Scotch fir and patches of birch

' bordering on two sides with the open forest, and

"as the shelter thus offered covers some 15,000

• acres of ground, it more than takes the place

of a sanctuary.

The forest marches on the south and east with
Glenmuick, and on the north and west with Inver-
cauld. The highest hills are Loch-na-gar, 3,800 feet,
which being interpreted by Gaelic scholars is by
some said to mean "The Moaning Rock," and by
others " The Loch of the Rock ; " then comes Cuidhe-
Crom, 3,552 feet, "Crooked Wreath," followed by
Cairn Taggert, " Priest's Cairn," 3,430 feet, and
many hills nearly as high. Clearing was commenced
in this forest in 1848, although for many years
previous to that there were always deer on the
ground. It will carry three rifles every day of
the season, and sometimes towards the middle of

A DERDEENSHIRE.

October there is a deer drive. The head forester's
name is Donald Stewart, and the usual kill of stags
is a little over lOO, which show an average of
15 stone without heart or liver.

This being the first time that the weight of deer
is mentioned in these pages, I will ask my readers
to understand that in all subsequent allusions to
this matter " quite clean or clean " will refer only
to beasts weighed without heart or liver, and in
the remainder of these pages wherever the weights
of deer are mentioned and not stated to be " clean,"
the different methods of taking the weight will be
duly stated, and, moreover, my readers will find
this subject of the various modes of weighing more
fully discussed in the chapter on the Forest of
Achnacarry.

The widest head killed in Her Majesty's forests
has measured 35^ inches across, and the thickest
horn 6^ inches in circumference immediately above
the coronet, which, though a good stout horn, is not
anything extraordinary. Golden eagles frequent the

4 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

forest in plenty, often nesting in the giant firs,
which they seem to prefer to the precipitous cliffs
usually chosen by them. During the last decade
pole-cats have been sometimes killed, but they now
appear to be extinct ; badgers are still to be found ;
while foxes, as in most other forests, are inconveniently
plentiful and difficult to keep down. To compare the
sport of one forest with that of another is not my
province, but with regard to the deer grounds of
the county under discussion, I think I may safely
assert that in respect of climatic conditions they rank
before all others, and that on the summits of the
Aberdeenshire hills less rain is to be encountered,
and more bracing, finer, health-giving air is to be
met with than can be found anywhere else in all
Scotland.

FOREST OF GLENMUICK AND BACHNAGAIRN.

Glen-na-muig, " The Stormy Glen," or according to
some Gaelic scholars "The Glen of the Pig" — i.e. the
ancient word for the wild boar — belongs to Sir Allan

. • • ••

• . ••

'•. •

.:••

•••.

• ••

• •

• • •

•♦•.

.:•'•

..••

.•••

..••

«••

•

..••

ABERDEENSHIRE.

Mackenzie, and extends to over 19,000 acres. It is
somewhat long for its breadth, and on the east and
north-east marches with Invermark forest ; on the
south with some sheep ground and Glendoll forest,
which continues to bound it on the west ; on the
north it runs with Balmoral. At one time this
property was owned by the Gordons of Aboyne, and
tradition says — although I vouch not for its accuracy
— that one day the laird of Aboyne met the laird of
Invercauld, both being belated in pursuit of deer, at a
small farm-house on Glenmuick, and finding a pack of
cards, they began to play. Fortune was dead against
the laird of Aboyne, who, exasperated by an incessant
run of bad luck, eventually staked as his last coup
the property of Glenmuick against a corresponding
extent of Invercauld, and losing the game, Glen-
muick passed into the hands of Invercauld, from
whom it was purchased by the late Sir James
Mackenzie in 1870. That gentleman planted large
stretches of low-lying moorland with larch, spruce and
Scotch fir, which thriving wonderfully well affords

6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

at present splendid winter shelter for the deer ; it
likewise offers the foresters an easy chance of hand
feeding during very severe winters, and although this
sort of feeding is never very satisfactory, as it is rarely
that the beasts in sorest need get the food so given,
yet it is better than nothing. Sad to relate, the big
stag is a selfish fellow, for not until he has had his fill
will he allow his weaker kin to join in the feast.
When this forest was first made in 1870 it yielded only
twenty to twenty-five stags each season, but now it
gives from sixty to sixty-five, with an average weight
of 1 4 stone quite clean, and the heaviest stag ever got
on it scaled 19 stone 11 lbs. Owing to the narrow-
ness in some places, this ground requires extra care,
with great knowledge of the wind ; but it is fine
ground to stalk over, and the present owner, Sir
Allan Mackenzie, in one day was once fortunate
enough to get seven stags, averaging 16 stone 3 lbs.,
in five different stalks.

A BERDEENSHIRE.

FOREST OF GLEN TANA BY ABOYNE.

This forest, the property of Sir William Cunliffe
Brooks, takes its name from the river Tana which runs
through it: Tana signifying "small" or "shallow,"
as compared with the mighty Dee in which it loses
itself about a mile above Aboyne suspension bridge.
It is not to be called Glen "Tanner" as if it were
the haunt of the hide dresser or the Cockney glen
of sixpence, and neither is it spelt with an r as if
it were " Annar Mariar." Tana is a Gaelic word, and
there is the same one with the same significance in
Welsh, viz. tanen — likewise tonos in Greek and tiny
in English. With an area of some 22,000 acres,
it is about thirteen miles long by some seven at the
greatest breadth, the low-lying parts being splendidly
timbered, chiefly with Scotch fir, which portions are
well fenced off from the arable lands around Aboyne.
From these low-lying lands the forest gradually
spreads to the west and south-west until it reaches
the 3077 feet summit of Mount Keen, where it marches
with Invermark Forest.

8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

From time immemorial there have been deer in
Glen Tana, and in the old days more than once
it has been attempted to extirpate them or drive
them clean off the place, but though the whole country-
side gathered together and formed a compact line,
and although there was a great slaughter, the plan
failed and the deer returned, to become as numerous as
ever. For the last ten years the average kill has
been sixty-one stags, scaling 14 stone clean. The
normal character of the horns is broad, strong, and
wild, and the heads of many good royals adorn the
splendid ballroom of Glen Tana House.

At one time the fastnesses of Glen Tana were
favourite sites for the operations of the illicit still, but
as the amount of the fine \wzx^2&^A pari passu with the
activity of the excisemen, these stills gradually dis-
appeared, and nothing now remains but a few ruins
of these attempts to get cheap whisky. I have had
the pleasure of spending a few days at Glen Tana, and
it is not possible for me to leave this forest without
making mention of all the other sport this grand

ABERDEENSHIRE.

place offers. Of grouse and every other description
of shooting there is ample, while of fishing there is
perhaps the very best in all the kingdom, for upwards
of a thousand spring fish have been killed by the
rods on this water in one season, and any keen
sportsman could commence at Glen Tana on the
1 1 th of February, the opening day of the Dee, and
till the next nth of February came round he could
have either rifle, gun, or rod in his hands, with
first-rate sport every day of the year. Truly a
sportsman's paradise !

FOREST OF INVERCAULD.

Of this forest, belonging to Mr. A. H. Farquharson,
I have not had any authentic information given me.
Having applied to the owner and a gentleman who
once rented it, and receiving no answer from either, I
did not think it right to go out of my way to col-
lect information which may perhaps have been with-
held on purpose, though more probably it has been
done by inadvertence, for both gentlemen have many

lo THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

important matters to occupy their attention; there-
fore I proceed on my way, much regretting that
I am unable to say more of this ancient and well-
known forest than that I have read it is i8 miles in
length from east to west, and from 4 to 5 miles wide,

FOREST OF MAR.

This splendid forest, belonging to the Duke of Fife,
is one of the most ancient, if not actually the oldest,
of all the Scotch forests. It consists of 70,000 acres
on the north side of the Dee, with other 40,000 acres
on the south side. It marches with the forests of
Glenmore, Glenavon, Glenfeshie and Atholl, and in
addition to a large sanctuary, there is a considerable
extent of wood on both sides of the Dee for wintering.
The forest is full of high and rocky hills, and of these
Ben-mac-Dhui, 4,298 ft., and Cairn Toul, 4,241, are
the two highest. Ronald McDonald is head forester
over the whole, while his brother Ewan has charge
of the ground on the south side of the Dee. It will
carry five rifles every day of the stalking season, and

ABERDEENSHIRE. ii

With a favourable wind as many as seven have often
been out. Towards the end of the season a deer
drive takes place at times, and also occasionally deer
are " moved " when they are in places where it is not
possible to stalk them. The annual kill of stags is
about 200, of 14 stone clean, while in the low ground
stags of 17 and 18 stone are got each season. The
Duke of Fife is himself a very keen hard-working
stalker, and I doubt if any other gentleman of the
same age as His Grace has ever killed more stags
to his own rifle.

12 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCO! LAND.

Chapter II.
ARGYLLSHIRE.

FOREST OF ARDTORNISH BY MORVEN.

Of this little forest no authentic information has
reached me of the numbers or weights of the stags
killed. Belonging to Mr. T. V. Smith, it is situated
on the Sound of Mull ; Loch Aline bounds it on the
west ; the waters of the Sound on the south, and Loch
Linnhe lies on the south-east, and thus these lands
form a peninsula, although not a very pronounced
one. On the north-east they march with the deer
ground of Kingairloch, and on the north-west with
the sheep-walks of Morven. Although the highest
hill does not exceed i,6oo ft., yet the beauties of
this property are great, the distant views afforded
by an island-dotted sea more than compensating

ARGYLLSHIRE. 13

for the somewhat desolate-looking surroundings of
the mainland.

THE BLACK MOUNT BY TVNDRUM.

This magnificent and ancient forest, the property of
the Marquis of Breadalbane, extends to some 80,000
acres, the eastern and southern boundaries being
entirely under sheep ; on the west and north-west the
property marches with the forests of Dalness, Etive,
and the waters of Loch Etive ; on the north it runs
for a long distance with a narrow strip of sheep
ground, on the other side of which lie the well-
known forests of Mamore, Corrour, with Benevrich
and Rannoch, a buffer state which, as the rutting
season begins, the stags are incessantly crossing
on their travels from one deer ground to the
other.

In these pages I have endeavoured to keep as
much as possible to the spelling considered correct in
the county containing the deer forest under discussion,
and as a simple illustration of the difficulties which

1 4 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

beset the speller of Gaelic names I will take the
prefix " Ben " borne by most of the high Scotch hills,
which some Gaelic specialists maintain means moun-
tain, while others hold that "ben" is merely a
corruption of " ban," pale, and is applied to only those
hills that continue snow-capped longer than the
surrounding ones. Gaelic spelling and pronunciation
likewise vary greatly according to the county, and as
proof of this may be mentioned the different methods
of spelling and articulating the Gaelic for the "red
mountain," for spelt in Perthshire " Ben Derg " and
pronounced " Ben Jerig," in Ross-shire these become
" Beim Dearg " and "Bin J arrack " ; again, in Perth-
shire, a very good Gaelic scholar taught me to say
" Fie-eh,' as correct for Feidh, deer, while an equally
well informed Ross-shire authority vowed that " fay "
was the only correct method of articulating the word ;
and so, finding that a smattering of Perthshire Gaelic
would not help in Ross-shire, I gave up any attempt
to acquire a small knowledge of the throat-breaking,
nostril-stretching language.

ARGYLLSHIRE. 15

In the Black Mount there are many high, rocky
and precipitous hills, of which Stob Ghabhar (3,563
feet) and Ben Staray (3,541 feet) are the highest,
and around the bases of all these high hills are
splendid corries. As a rule, and in all ordinary
seasons, this forest yields 100 stags to the rifle, but
the seasons of 1893 and 1894 were phenomenal, and
as showing what a great difference a good or bad
season makes to even a very old forest, Lord
Breadalbane has very kindly given me the following
particulars of these two seasons.

The stalking season of 1893 in the Black Mount
was one of the wettest ever known there, and the
incessant rain with the accompanying mists so
interfered with stalking that but eighty-four stags
were put into the larder, with an average weight of
13 stone 6 lbs. 14 ozs., of which the heaviest was
17 stone, and the lightest but 9 stone. In this forest,
however, it is the invariable rule that everything
shot is entered into the book, whether laid low by
mistake or not, the deer being then weighed quite

1 6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

clean without heart or liver, and the average at
the end of the season is struck so exactly that ounces
are counted, which is the only instance I have met
with of such accurate weighing. In many forests
small beasts killed by accident are not entered in
the deer book, and of course such an omission greatly
increases the average of weight. The winter of
1893 ■^^s o"^ of the worst ever experienced in this
forest, and upwards of 140 good stags were found
dead, many of them with very fine heads, while as
to the young stags that perished, it was not possible
to make any estimate, as the horns were all that
were left to tell the tale of the fate of their bigger
brethren. The stalking season of '94 that followed
this severe winter turned out to be one of the driest
ever known, and for the greater part of the season the
wind blew from the north-east, which is the worst
possible one for this forest, and but seventy-four
stags were killed, with an average weight of 13
stone 10 lbs. \q\ ozs., of which the heaviest scaled
16 St. 8 lbs., and the lightest ii st. 4 lbs. It was

ARGYLLSHIRE. 17

also remarked that both in season '93 and '94
the heads, usually so famed for their size and wild
beauty, were decidedly below the average. In the
dry season of 1894 the weather was so fine that
it made the deer very hard to approach, as they
did not frequent their usual haunts ; also in this
season it was a noticeable fact that nearly all the
misses were caused by gentlemen shooting low, and
Lord Breadalbane when in conversation with the
forester of an adjoining forest, without first mention-
ing the matter, heard from him that he also had never
seen so many misses as during that season, all of
which he likewise attributed to low shooting, and the
fact may perhaps be accounted for by some peculiarity
of light caused by the remarkably dry season ;
the matter is certainly worthy of the deerstalker's
attention, for if gentlemen who are known to be
trusty with their rifles miss many fair chances, it
may be taken as certain that there is some good
reason to account for it. In 1894 Lord Breadalbane
had a chance of testing the weight of a stag

D

i8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

before and after the gralloch ; it was shot on
September 25, and weighed as he fell 18 st.
9f lbs., but when clean he scaled only 13 st. 8 lbs.,
leaving 5 st. i^- lbs. as the weight of the gralloch,
including heart and liver, which is somewhat under
the usual estimate of one-third of the gross weight.
Mr. Scrope, however, estimates the gralloch as
one-fourth the entire weight, and probably it varies
according to the size and condition of the animal.
It is somewhat remarkable that each of the seasons
'93 and '94 in the Black Mount should have been
decidedly below the average, while accounts from
other forests reported great numbers of heavy deer
to have been got, and perhaps it was late in the
season, and after stalking had been discontinued in
the Black Mount, that the numbers were obtained ;
for some forests depend almost entirely on the last
ten days of the season to make up the bag, and
then of course many stags which are far run are
bound to be killed. In the Black Mount the
stalkers have the strictest orders not to stalk: stags

ARGYLLSHIRE. 19

that are not in perfect condition, and such an order
(although it greatly improves the breed of deer,
and is much to be commended and where possible
imitated) cannot fail in early rutting seasons to
reduce the number of stags killed. The golden
eagle breeds securely in the Black Mount, and
although most of the old naturalists speak of the
!' eagle-stone " as possessing both magical and
medicinal properties, and assert that from the
eagle downwards no bird of prey can hatch their
young without a stone in the nest, the ornithologists
of the present day make no mention of these stones,
and it would be interesting to find out how such a
tradition arose.

: In the old days of clanship during the period
when feuds were incessant, the Black Mount, like
almost every other part of the Highlands, was not
exempt from scenes of strife. It was in the mountain
fastnesses of these lands that the proscribed clan
Macgregor took shelter after they had nearly
^terminated the Colquhouns of Luss at the battle

20 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

of Glenfruin in 1603, when they were led by their
chief Alexander Macgregor of Glenstrae.

For this the Macgregors were outlawed, Alexander,
their chief, was taken prisoner and treacherously done to
death in Edinburgh. Tradition tells that some years
prior to the death of this gallant man, his son, while
out after deer one day in the Black Mount, met the
young laird of Lamond travelling from Cowal to
Inverlochy, and together they dined at a house lying
between Tyndruni and King's House. During the
evening they quarrelled, dirks were drawn on both
sides, when Macgregor was killed, whereon Lamond
fled, hotly pursued by the attendants of the young laird,
but outrunning his pursuers, he reached the house
of Alexander Macgregor, the very man whose son
he had just slain, and without mentioning what had
happened, he so earnestly begged protection, that
the chief pledged him his word that whatever he had
done, no harm should befall him as long as he was
with him. Then arrived the pursuers to inform
the father of the true state of affairs, but Alexander,

ARGYLLSHIRE. 21

considering his word was pledged, would not allow the
slayer of his own son to be harmed, and restored
young Lamond to his people unhurt, an act for which
the name of Alexander Macgregor of Glenstrae has
rightly been handed down to posterity as a typical
example of a gallant Highlander's unswerving deter-
mination to keep his plighted troth at all hazards.
Some sixty years later there appeared on the scene
a descendant of this Alexander, the celebrated " Rob
Roy," but I cannot discover that he was ever in the
Black Mount, and indeed his energies always appear
to have been turned more to his neighbours' cattle
than to their deer.

CONAGLEN BY ARDGOUR.

This small forest, belonging to the Earl of Morton,
extends to between ten and eleven thousand acres,
with a highest altitude of 2,300 feet. It is situated
near the head of Loch Linnhe on the western shore
and due south of Loch Eil. No authentic information
has been obtainable.

22 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

DALNESS OR ROYAL FOREST BY TAYNUILT.

This forest, one of the most ancient of all the deer
forests, having been afforested as far back as the time
of James IV. of Scotland, belongs to Mrs. Elizabeth
Mary Stuart, and consists of some seven to eight
thousand acres of a most mountainous district, em-
bracing the western ridges of the Grampians. These
secluded and almost inaccessible fastnesses with their
lovely corries have ever formed a natural home for
the red deer, imparting also a wildness to their
heads which greatly enhances their beauty, and the
fine stout long brow antlers of the stags of Dalness,
that have broken out of the forest during the rutting
season, can still be traced in the surrounding deer
grounds. Stalking is not commenced before the ist
of September and is ended on loth or 12th of October,
according to the year; the stags average 16 stone
quite clean, and as some twenty of these good beasts
may be got each season, it is certainly one of the best
small forests in Scotland. The highest altitude in
Dalness is 3,345 feet, but the whole forest is composed

ARGYLLSHIRE. 23

of hills nearly as high — very steep and very stony.
Of late years it has not been let, and it is essentially
a young man's forest, for each day in it is nothing
more or less than stalking a succession of gigantic
sugar loaves, and the stalker has no sooner toiled to
the top of one hill than he finds he has to descend
and mount a fresh one equally high and equally steep.
From the nature of the ground many shots have to
be fired nearly directly down hill, but, nevertheless,
it is a grand little forest for anyone who is still on
the right side of fifty.

GLEN-ETIVE FOREST BY TAYNUILT.

This is a small forest belonging to Mr. E. S.
Greaves, situated at the head of Loch Etive and
marching on the north with Dalness ; the remainder
of the forest marches on the other three sides with
very rough sheep ground. It has not been afforested
many years, and I have not been able to obtain any
authentic information as to the number of deer killed
eacl\ season.

24 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FORESTS OF KINGAIRLOCH AND GLENSANDA BY ARDGOUR.

This forest in the Morven district marches on
the south-west with that of Ardtornish, the remaining
boundaries being sheep ground. It belongs to Mr.
J. B. Sherriff and is at present rented by Mr. Henry
Piatt of Gorddinog. The total extent is some 32,000
acres, Glensanda having been afforested about ten
years ago and Kingairloch at two different times since,
and except where Glensanda marches with Ardtornish
it is mostly low ground. Kingairloch rises abruptly
from the sea shore of Loch Linnhe to a considerable
height, and on it there are two splendid corries which
being kept as a sanctuary hold deer of all sorts the
whole year through. Owing to Mr. Piatt's careful
nursing, he is reaping his reward in sparing the
heaviest stags and best heads by an annually im-
proving increase in weight. Up to the present time
thirty stags have been the season's total, but Mr.
Piatt hopes to make this up to thirty-five, which
number he considers will be the maximum. The

ARGYLLSHIRE. 25

Stags Stay chiefly in Kingairloch, while Glensanda is
more useful for keeping hinds and nursery purposes.
The deer are weighed quite clean, and a stone is
then added to the weight for the heart and liver,
and thus estimated they averaged 14 stone for season
'94, the heaviest of the lot weighing 1 9 stone 2 lbs.

FOREST OF JURA BY PORTASKAIG.

This beautiful western isle, described by Sir
Thomas Turner in 1640 as "that horrible island only
fit for the habitation of deer and wild beasts," now
contains the largest, best and most southern of the
island deer forests. Owned by Mr. James Campbell
of Jura, it has been rented for many years past by
Mr. Henry Evans of Derby, who has taken the
greatest pride and interest in the deer, while from the
unrivalled facilities an island forest offers for the
purposes of observation, he has been enabled to throw
considerable fresh light on their natural history, and
the result of these investigations Mr. Evans has
garnered together in the shape of a small book called

26 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

"Jura Red Deer," which, although never purchaseable,
has been freely distributed amongst his personal
friends and others interested in the matter.

This book lies before me as I write, and having
the author's full permission to make use of it, I have
not hesitated to avail myself of the kind offer. Jura
Forest — and some authorities say that " Jura " means
"deer island" — consists of 27,000 acres divided into
four sections. On the west coast lies " Scrinadale,"
4,500 acres, and to the south of that section lies
" Inner," 7,000 acres. On the east side of the
island are " Gatehouse," 7,000 acres, and " Largy,"
9,000 acres. Gatehouse is bounded on the north by
Loch Tarbert, a sea loch which nearly divides Jura
in two.

On the extreme south the divisions of Inner and
Largy are bounded by the sea-girt sheep ground of
Ardfin, 9,500 acres. To the north of the Gatehouse
section lies the sheep ground of Corrienaheira and
Tarbert, the two together covering some 24,000 acres.
The winters are occasionally severe, but artificial

ARGYLLSHIRE.

feeding cannot be resorted to owing to the difficulty of
distributing the food over so large an area. With
regard to the age of deer, Mr. Evans puts the outside
duration of a stag's life at thirty years, which I believe
is much more in accord with the facts than the reports
and traditions of stags and hinds that have lived to
attain ages varying from fifty to over one hundred
years, Mr. Evans bases his theory of the length
of stag life chiefly on the fact that in every forest
where they get the chance of living long enough,
it is common to kill them with some or even
all their front teeth missing, and he contends that
an incomplete mouth is an absolute indication of the
first sign of decay ; and as it is proved that stags begin
to lose their teeth even at fourteen years old, it is
probable that they do not attain a greater age than
thirty years. On the sheep ground of Tarbert Mr.
Evans shot a stag he had seen every season for sixteen
years ; this beast had been caught and marked as a
calf by Mr. D. Fletcher, the tenant of Tarbert, so
no possible mistake could be made, and when he fell in

28 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

his sixteenth year he had already lost one tooth and
was rather lean. Little appears to be known about
the longevity of hinds, but as apparently they are quite

m

as hardy as stags, do not fight, grow no horns, and do not
run down very low in condition every season, there is a
possibility that they are naturally longer lived than
stags, and also they are not often picked up dead or
killed with missing teeth.* It is possible that wood
stags maintain their prime longer than those living on
the open hills ; certain it is that they come to maturity
more speedily, and a remarkable instance of this rapid
growth of a wood stag happened in Jura. A calf stag
having lost its mother, strayed on to the Ardfin
enclosures and pastured amongst the crops on the farm,
and became well known to all about the place. On
the 30th August, 1872, when he was eight years
old, he was shot by mistake in a mist and then
weighed perfectly clean 26 stone 4 lbs. ; his head
was what could be called a good head, but nothing

* It will be seen later on that two cases are mentioned in
the mainland forests of hinds having lost their teeth.

ARGYLLSHIRE. 29

more. As to hill stags, there is but little doubt
that these attain their prime at twelve years old,
and this they maintain for five years, when they
begin to "go back." That this is correct I quite
believe to be the case, and I remember killing a
stag at Corrour which old Allan MacCallum, the
veteran stalker there, told me he had known for nearly
twenty years. This beast weighed 17 stone 10 lbs.
quite clean, but neither horn was more than 7 inches
in length, while five of his eight front teeth were
missing, and his face was nearly white. He was only
fairly fat, and well do I remember old Allan saying that
five years ago he would have been 20 stone at least.
With regard to the age of Jura hinds, there was rather
a tame hind with very peculiar ears, and Mr. Evans
knew her for twenty-two years, and she was a large
hind with a calf by her side when she first came under
observation. During the twenty-two years she reared
twenty calves and was yeld but once. In November
of 1889 she fell over some rocks and broke her
neck, but she was then looking very ragged and feeble,

30 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

and had with her a poor and sickly calf, which did not
long survive its mother. As she was put down as five
years old when first observed, she must have been
twenty-six or twenty-seven years old at the time
of her death, but in spite of her advanced years
she had a perfect set of teeth. Mr. Evans' theory
of the age of deer does not at all agree with Mr.
Scrope's assertion that "stags live to 150 and even
180 years;" and in support of his theory Scrope
quotes the case of Captain Macdonald of Tulloch in
Lochaber, who dying at the age of eighty-six knew
the white hind of Loch Treig for the last fifty years
of his life, while his father knew her for an equal time,
and his grandfather knew her for sixty years of his
time, which seems to make this white lady to be 160
years old. In further support of his belief Mr. Scrope
also quotes the old Highland saying as if he fully
believed in it, that

" Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse,
Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man,
Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer,

ARGYLLSHIRE. 31

Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle,
Thrice the age of an eagle is that of an oak."
The first two propositions contained in this wisdom
of old days are nearly correct, but the third makes deer
live to over 200 years ! eagles to over 600 years ! !
and oaks for some 2000!!! Therefore the probable
explanation of the reputed long-lived hind of Loch
Treig is that there was a succession of white ladies,
always supposed to be one and the same animal.

There is no doubt that healthy hinds continue
to breed nearly as long as they live, and the result
in calves will be satisfactory or the reverse according
to the exposed or sheltered nature of the ground
during severe winters, and more calves will die that
are born of poor hinds than of those belonging to
well-conditioned ones, which is established by the
fact that the Inner division of Jura, which is the
most exposed breeding-ground, shows only twenty-
eight calves alive to every hundred hinds in the
February following their birth. On Largy division,
which is the choicest, best sheltered ground of

32 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

the forest, the return is forty-five calves to every
hundred hinds ; in arriving at this result, Mr.
Evans has reckoned as " hinds " all the female
deer of one year old and upwards, and it is to one
hundred of these that the rate has been calculated,
as it was thought this method of reckoning was less
liable to error than attempting to deduct the yearlings
and two-year-old hinds and ascribing the calves to
the balance left, though, of course, the calves must
be due to that balance, whatever it may be.

In Jura hinds usually breed when twenty-eight
months old, and present the forest with their first
fruits when three years old, and I believe the same
rule holds good for the deer forests of the mainland.
With regard to woods for winter shelter. Jura is
not too plentifully provided, the sheep-ground of
Ardfin being best off in this respect. In the early
Jura winter the sea blasts wither up the herbage,
while, on the other hand, the spring feeding is ready
much earlier than in the mainland forests. March
and April are, however, the months most fatal to

ARGYLLSHIRE. 33

deer, and, as will be seen, the four divisions of the
forest differ very much in fertility. In the month of
February, 1890, in the Inner district of 7,000 acres,
there were counted 426 hinds, 118 calves, together
with 150 stags of all sorts, which gives 10 acres to
each deer on the best breeding-ground in the forest.
On the same date the Scrinadale section of 4,500
acres showed 133 hinds, 61 calves, and 96 stags of
all sorts, or one deer to 15^ acres. On the 7,000
acres of Gatehouse there were counted 220 hinds and
96 calves, with 1 94 stags, or 1 4 acres to each deer, and
in addition to this there are usually some fifty good
stags from Gatehouse which winter on the sheep-
ground of Corrienaheira. In Largy division, of 9,000
acres, the count was 170 hinds, 80 calves, and 250
stags, or one deer to 18 acres. From these figures
it will be seen that Inner and Scrinadale, both on
the west side of Jura, give a total of 559 hinds, with
1 79 calves ; while Gatehouse and Largy, both on tne
east side of the island, give 398 hinds, with 176
calves, and the great contrast in fertility shows

F

34 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

right well how much the situation and lie of a forest
have to do with the well-being of deer. Wherever
the sea-shore is favourable the Jura deer, like horses
and sheep, eat a great deal of seaweed, and likewise
they devour all horns and bones of dead deer pretty
quickly, and are not even at all particular how soon
they begin on them, for Mr. Evans once found a large
piece of deer's hide the size of a pocket handkerchief
chewed full of holes in the stomach of a stag he
shot. Twice also has he seen stags with large pieces
of skin and leg-bones entangled in their horns, and
he relates how one of these bone-carriers was the
terror of his friends, for when he trotted or galloped the
leg-bone rattled with a great noise against his horns ;
thus one day, on getting wind of Mr. Evans and his
stalker, this stag in dashing off set several others
on the run : these were urged to top speed by the
music " bones " played behind them, the result
being a desperate, but ludicrous, race, till at length
hunter and hunted disappeared over the sky line.
On the Inner beat, in 1888, a fine stag was found dead

ARGYLLSHIRE. 35

with the skull of a calf firmly fixed in his mouth, and
several times others have been picked up dead, choked
by bones, and nearly always these have been stags, so
that it is an error to suppose, as is sometimes thought,
that only hinds eat bones and horns.

Mr. Evans is a great advocate of heather burning in
a forest, and having pursued this plan for the last six
years, he has found a considerable lessening of mor-
tality ; therefore, with this knowledge to guide them,
other forest owners might well give heather burning
a trial. In addition to the husk parasite Mr. Evans
has observed five other varieties in the island. Neither
fluke nor sturdy are rare in deer of all sorts, while
stags especially are liable to be infested by a very
large worm adhering to the throat and lower part
of the tongue. This worm, usually found in the
spring, is nearly as thick and as long as the little
finger, with a most repulsive, leech-like appearance,
and for a long time nothing quite certain was known
of how it came to be in the stags' throat.

The so-called "bark" of a suspicious hind is a

36 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND

sound but too well-known to deerstalkers, but Mr.
Evans relates that on four different occasions he has
heard a stag bark as loudly and as often as a hind,
and of this I have never before heard, and I imagine
it will be news to many.

There was at one time rather a heavy death-rate
amongst the deer of Jura, where there is an average
rainfall of 65 inches per annum, but such mortality
could not be attributed to wet weather only, for there
are other forests in the north where the downpour is
much heavier ; therefore Mr. Evans has come to the
conclusion that many deer die of the hair-like lung-
worm causing the disease called "husk," and in 1890
two freshly dead stags were found with their lungs
full of these parasites, which makes it a matter for
regret that dead deer are seldom found fresh enough
to permit of any prolonged and close examination.
Recently Mr. Percy H. Grimshaw, when pursuing
his investigations on this parasite in Ross-shire,
has established the fact that this worm is the child
of the bot-fly. Deer also suffer from warbles pro-

ARGYLLSHIRE. 37

duced by some insect probably of the gad-fly type,
for each warble contains a grub, and there is a perfora-
tion of the skin immediately above the warble. It
is highly probable that a careful study of parasites,
accompanied by special knowledge, would result in
discoveries sufficiently important to warrant great
alterations in the management of sheep and deer,
which might eventually lead to the permanent
reduction of the present heavy death-rate prevailing
amongst these animals. Mr. Evans is confident that
burning considerable tracts of heather almost entirely
checks parasite mischief ; but of course there must be
a limit to this remedy, as in burnt ground there is
hardly any feeding for the first winter after burning,
and, therefore, good judgment as to where and how
much to burn is essential to the success of this plan.

That the mortality in all deer forests is heavy
may be taken for granted, the following having been
the death-rate in Jura, which, from its position, should
be better off in this respect than the forests of the
mainland : —

38 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

In Jura the search for dead deer is carried on
strictly and continuously, and if this were not
done, it would be quite easy to overlook many,
for it is surprising how quickly the bodies disappear,
only to leave behind them for a short time a
gruesome carpet of hair ; so consequently the search,
unless carried on systematically, is nugatory, and
many foresters will declare it is rare to find dead
deer on their grounds simply because they do not
half search for them.

In the ten years from 1879 to 1888 the bodies
of 222 stags, 326 hinds, and 443 calves were found;
or a total of 991 deer, which, as it is not likely that
every carcase was discovered, gives a death-rate of
fully one hundred deer a year. Those gentlemen
who rent forests for one season only too often appear
to think that stags grow out of the heather, and
accordingly they shoot every good one they get a
chance at, and then take their departure, bequeathing
their leavings to the next tenant, who in his turn will
again strive his utmost to kill the best beasts he can

ARGYLLSHIRE. 39

get at ; thus a forest that changes hands often is
almost sure to suffer a deterioration in the quaUty
of its deer, and I would suggest to those forest
owners who let by the year that they would do
well to have a strict agreement with the tenant, not
only as to the number to be killed but also as to
their quality, a condition which should apply equally
to stags and hinds. In a satisfactory forest the
most important feature must ever be the possession
of a full complement of fine healthy hinds, and such
a result can only be arrived at by abstaining from
killing them ; as soon as the desired result has been
reached, then it can be maintained by exercising
great care in not selecting the flower of the flock
for slaughter ; better by far to kill sixty ragged
poor hinds than thirty of the fattest and best.
Of course overstocking must be guarded against, but
it would be better protection to kill weakly hinds
and even weakly calves than to reduce the numbers
of strong healthy matrons. The Jura hinds average
8 stone I2 lbs. quite clean, while with regard to twin

40 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

calves, Mr. Evans is of opinion, after long observation,
that they only occur but once in several hundred
births.

Mention must now be made of an extra-
ordinary curiosity of the Jura Forests, called "the
cromie stag," Gaelic for " crooked." In Jura only do
these stags exist ; how they got there or whence
they came no one knows, but there they have been
from time immemorial, and confident I feel either
that they are a distinct race, or that some stag from
foreign lands once managed to get to Jura in days
gone by and left his mark behind him. Even in
Jura these " cromies " are very scarce, living only
in certain parts of the island, where perhaps three
or four "cromies" may be seen to one hundred
others, and the whole forest may not contain a
score of them. In twelve years Mr. Evans has
shot but eleven, and for several seasons past none
at all, although by this it must not be inferred that
absence from the larder means absence from the
hill, for, thanks to Mr. Evans' care, there are still

.••• •♦.

u

o
u
<:

«■ , t" '

,'• ..<•

► V * • '

ARGYLLSHIRE. 41

"cromies" in Jura. The horns of the "cromie"
slope backwards and are set on the head at a totally
different angle to those of the ordinary stag ; likewise
the beam is seldom round like the usual horn, but
tends to varying degrees of flatness, and in a cast
horn, kindly sent me by Mr. Evans, that part above
the coronet is nearly quite flat. I consider these
"cromie" heads so curious, so interesting, and so
difficult to convey any idea of by words, that I have
deemed the head of the " crooked one " well worthy
of illustration, and the drawing shows most accurately
the remarkable features of the best " cromie " head
ever got in Jura, and though at first sight it
may appear ugly as compared with that of the
usual monarch of the glen, I am sure all deer
fanciers will eventually agree with me in regarding
the head as a wild and beautiful one, while the
sight of it cannot fail to arouse speculation as
to its origin. According to the season, the. average
weight of the Jura stags varies from 14 stone
to 14 stone 7 lbs., but this does not include

G

42 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

the small stags of the Paps and Scrinadale, and
other very stony hill-tops. Throughout Jura the
deer carry very heavy coats of hair, much more so
than those of the mainland, but the small fellows
that frequent these stony hills are extra hairy, and
from living so much in mist they have become light
in colour, and very similar to the Harris stag
both in body and horn ; they are most excellent
venison, while as showing how small they are, it
may be mentioned that a very pretty royal from
the Paps weighed but 1 1 stone clean. Mr. Evans
is of opinion, in which I agree, that only a certain
number of stags are born to the purple, but be that
as it may, in Jura any vigorous monarch is more
often than not safe from the rifle, being preserved
for breeding purposes, while endeavours are made to
collect the shed horns. By this system of searching for
cast horns Mr. Evans has discovered that even "royals"
have their bad years, and that their heads increase or
diminish in glory, according to the season. It must
not, however, be supposed that no royals have been

ARGYLLSHIRE. 43

killed in Jura during the last ten years, for that is
not at all the case, albeit certain favoured ones have
been spared. Mr. Evans states that he had a three-
year-old very tame six-pointer stag, the grandson
of a Ross-shire hind, and as he had one ear cut off
to render him bullet proof, there can be no possible
doubt as to his identity. This stag passed two years
as a knobber instead of one, and then threw out
six points the next year, which is a somewhat
awkward fact for the cock-sure division of observers.
Mr. Evans also possesses a fossil stag antler, dug
up in Jura gravel, which clearly demonstrates that
the Jura red deer are pre-historic. To improve
the breed, deer have been introduced from Athol,
Black Mount and Kildermorie Forests, and how
they have increased since 1844 "i^y be imagined,
when in that year it is a fact that Mr. Campbell's
forester searched from Ardfin to Screeb, a distance
of eight miles, before he could find a shootable
stag for the Duke of Argyll's wedding, while the
forester of that date declared there were not sixty stags

44 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

on the whole of the ground, which now yields sixty
good beasts each season. In taking leave of this bonnie
island forest, which the kindness of Mr. Evans has en-
abled me to deal with at length, I cannot refrain from
expressing a strong opinion that that which he has
found beneficial and good for the welfare of his
island deer will also be found equally advantageous
for their relations on the mainland.

FOREST OF LAGGAN, LOCHBUIE, ISLE OF MULL.

This small forest on the south side of the Isle
of Mull extends to a little over 6,000 acres,
situated on a very pronounced peninsula. It
is the property of Maclaine of Lochbuie, and
possesses a small sanctuary, while the hills in it
run from 1,500 feet to nearly 2,000 feet high,
with rocky, stony summits, and bases covered
with a mixture of fine grass feeding, natural
wood and heathery corries. Although there have
been Maclaines and deer in Mull from the days
of Noah, this ground has only been absolutely

ARGYLLSHIRE. 45

cleared of sheep for the past eight years, the
present owner having introduced fresh blood from
the Black Mount and Ashridge and Vanol
Parks. The place carries one rifle comfortably,
but as for the last few years all the best stags
have been kept for breeding purposes, the average
weight has not exceeded 15 stone, weighed quite
clean. On the deer ground there are also some wild
goats and four-horned sheep from St. Kilda, while
both species of the eagle nest annually in the rocky
hills. The sea views to be enjoyed by the stalker
are superb, the Isles of the Sea, Scarba, Jura,
Colonsay and Isla, all appearing in the panorama.
The Maclaines have ever played a stout part in the
feuds and wars of days gone by ; Eachuin, their
chief, fell at Flodden in a gallant attempt to save the
life of King James from the arrows of the English
bowmen, the clan fought for Montrose, and, almost
needless to say, were "out" in 1715. These, how-
ever, are matters that will not appeal so much to
the deerstalker as the following telling poem of the

46 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

chase by the Marquis of Lome. It speaks for itself
and needs no praise.

THE WILD REVENGE OF HECTOR MALCOLM ;

Or, a Legend of the Maclaines of Lochbuie, Isle of Mull.
A POEM BY THE MARQUIS OF LORNE, K.T.

Part I.

Dark with shrouds of mist surrounded
E.ise the mountains from the shore,

Where the galleys of the Islesmen
Stand updrawn, their voyage o'er.

Horns this morn are hoarsely sounding
From Lochbuie's ancient wall,

While for chase the guests and vassals
Gather in the court and hall.

Hounds whose voices could give warning
From far moors of stags at bay,

Quiver in each iron muscle,
Howl, impatient of delay.

Henchmen, waiting for the signal,
At their Chief's imperious word.

Start, to drive from hill and corrie
To the pass the watchful herd.

ARGYLLSHIRE. 47

Closed were paths as with a netting,
Vain high courage, speed, or scent;

Every mesh a man in ambush,
Ready, with a crossbow bent.

" Eachan,* guard that glade and copsewood !
At your peril, let none by 1 "
Cries the Chief, while in the heather
Silently the huntsmen lie.

Shouting, by the green morasses,
Where the fairies dance at night,

Yelling 'neath the oak and birches,
Come the beaters into sight,

And, before them, rushing wildly,
Speeds the herd of driven deer,

Whose wide antlers tossed like branches
In the winter of the year.

Useless was the vassal's effort

To arrest the living flow,
And it passed by Eachan's passage.

Spite of hound, and shout, and blow.

"Worse than woman! Useless caitiff!
Why allowed you them to pass ?
Back ! no answer ! Hark, men, hither,
Take his staff, and bind him fast."

• Gaelic for Hector.

48 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Hearing was with them obeying,
And the hunter's strong limbs lie,

Bound with thongs from tawny oxen,
'Neath the Chieftain's cruel eye.

" More than two score stags have passed him :
Mark the number on his flesh
With red stripes of this good ashwood.
Mend we thus this broken mesh ! "

" Ah ! Lochbuie ! faint and sullen

Beats the heart, once leal and free.
That had yielded life exulting,
If it bled for thine and thee.

" Deem'st thou that no honour liveth,
Save in haughty breast like thine ?
Think'st thou men, like dogs in spirit,
At such blows but wince and whine?

" Often, in the dangerous tempest,
When the winds before the blast,
Surging, charged like crested horsemen
Over helm, and plank, and mast,

" He, and all his kin before him.

Well have kept the Clansman's faith.
Serving thee in every danger,

Shielding thee from harm and skaith.

" Mid the glens and hills in combat,

AVhere the blades of swordsmen meet.

ARGYLLSHIRE. 49

Has he fought with thee the Campbells,
Mingling glory with defeat.

" But, as waters round Eorsa,

Dark and deep, then blanch in foam,
When the winds Ben More has harboured
Burst in thunder from their home ;

" So the brow fear never clouded,
Blackens now 'neath anger's pall.
And the lips, to speak disdaining.
Whiten at revenge's call ! "

Part II.

Late, when many years had passed him,

And the chiefs old age began.
Seemed his youth again to blossom.

With the birth of his fair son.

Late, when all his days had hardened

Into flint his nature wild.
Seemed it softer grown and kinder,

For the sake of that one child.

And again a hunting morning

Saw Lochbuie and his men.
With his boy, his guests, and kinsmen.

Hidden o'er a coppiced glen.

Deep, within its oaken thickets,
Ran its waters to the sea;

H

so THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

On the hill the Chief lay careless,
While the child watched eagerly.

'Neath them, on the shining ocean,

Island beyond island lay,
Where the peaks of Jura's bosom

Rose o'er holy Oronsay.

Where the greener fields of Islay

Pointed to the far Kintire,
Fruitful lands of after ages,

Wasted then with sword and fire.

For the spell, that once had gathered
All the chiefs beneath the sway

Of the ancient royal sceptre
Of the Isles, had passed away.

Once, from Rathline to the southward.
Westward to the low Tiree,

Northward, past the Alps of Coolin,
Somerled ruled land and sea.

Colonsay, Lismore and Scarba,
Bute and Cumrae, Mull and Skye,

Arran, Jura, Lew's and Islay,
Shouted then one battle cry.

But those Isles that still united

Fought at Harlaw Scotland's might.

Broken by their fierce contentions,
Singly waged disastrous fight.

ARGYLLSHIRE. il

And the teaching of forgiveness
Grey lona's creed became,

Not a sign for men to reverence,
But a burning brand of shame.

'o

Still among the names, that Ruin
Had not numbered in her train,

Lived the great Clan, proud as ever,
Of the race of strong Maclaine.

And his boy, like her he wedded,
Though of nature like the dove.

Showed the eagle spirit flashing
Through a heritage of love.

Heir of all the vassals' homage
Rendered to the grisly sire,

He had grown his people's treasure,
Fostered as their hearts' desire.

Surely safety guards his footsteps.

Enmity he hath not sown ;
Yet who stealthily glides near him,

Whose the arm around him thrown?

It is Eachan, who has wolf-like
Seized upon a helpless prey !

Fearlessly and fast he bears him.
Where a cliff* o'erhangs the bay.

Called to this day "Malcolm's Cliff."

52 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

There, while the sea-birds scream around them,
Holding by his throat the boy,

Eachan turns, and to the father
Shouts in scorn and mocking joy :

" Take the punishment thou gavest.
Give before all these a pledge
For my freedom, or thy darling
Dying falls from yonder ledge 1

" Take the strokes in even number,
As thou gavest, blow for blow ;
Then dishonoured on thine honour,
Swear to let me freely go."

Silent, in his powerless anger.
Stood the chief, with all his folk,

And before them all the ransom
Was exacted stroke for stroke.

Then again the voice of vengeance
Pealed from Eachan's lips in hate :
" Childless and dishonoured villain,
Expiation comes too late !

" My revenge is not completed ! "
And they saw, in dumb despair,
How he hurled his victim downward
Headlong through the empty air.

Then they heard a yell of laughter,
As they turned away the eye ;

ARGYLLSHIRE. 53

And they gazeJ again, where nothing
Met their sight but cliff and sky !

For the murderer dared to follow,

Where the youthful spirit fled
To the throne of the Avenger,

To the Judge of Quick and Dead.

There are deer more or less all over the island
of Mull, and it is satisfactory to relate that their
numbers are increasing. At Glenforsa Colonel
Greenhill Gardynne, whose Glenforsa check of brown,
blue and white is hardly discernible from a rock,
has always deer on his ground, and has at various
times mingled fresh blood from the parks of
Windsor, Powerscourt, and Stoke, and this property
is well suited to a forest, as there are many rough
and high hills in it, the two tallest, Dun-dha-gavith
(the hill of the two winds) and Ben Tulla (the hill
of rich soil), each rising to 2,000 feet, with their
bases full of fine corries and well-wooded slopes.

At Gruline (which was formerly part of the
Glenforsa estate) Mr. Melles also always has deer,
no less than fifty-two being in sight at once one

54 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

day last spring. On the mainland of Argyll there
are likewise many grounds on which, although not
afforested, a good few stags are annually got. Of
these, the chief are Strontian, at present rented by
Colonel Henry, Belsgrove, let to Sir R. M. Brooke,
and Ardshellach, let to Lord Howard of Glossop ;
the yield of these three grounds, which march with
each other and belong to Sir Rodney S. Riddell,
being some thirty to forty stags annually. Also on
the shootings of Ardgour, Achdalieu, Acharacle, and
Craig by Dalmally, a fair number of stags are
killed each season.

55

Chapter III.
BANFFSHIRE.

FOREST OF GLENFIDDICH, BY DUFFTOWN.

There are but two deer forests in this county, both
belonging to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon,
Prior however to 1745, the Earls of Huntly owned
all the country lying between Ben Avon in Banffshire,
right across Scotland to Ben Nevis, a distance of
some seventy miles, and in this tract were included
the districts of Glenmore, Glen Feshie, Gaick,
Drumchalder, Ben Alder, and Loch Treig, in all
some 200 square miles. This vast property the
Earls of Huntly ruled with absolute power, and
severe were the penalties these chieftains made
against deer poaching ; men were hung for the offence,
and history relates that one John Our, being detected

56 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

in " honest theft," as deer stealing was then called
by the poachers, had one of his eyes put out and
his right arm cut off, but surviving these barbarities
by the aid of a strong constitution, and having an
ineradicable love for the chase, he yet in spite of his
crippled state managed to kill many more deer. This
vast property eventually became split up between the
predecessors of the present Marquis of Huntly and
those of the present Duke of Richmond and Gordon,
whose ancestor was a son of a sister of one of
the Lords of Huntly, and by degrees the western
parts of the estate were sold. The forest of Glen-
fiddich, which lies some dozen miles south of
Craigellachie on Speyside, is retained by the Duke
for his own use. It takes its name from the Fiddich,
a tributary of the Spey, which rises in and runs
through the whole forest, which extends to some
25,000 acres of moor and moss, with some small
quantity of wood. Although entirely surrounded by
sheep farms, these lands contain some high and
rough ground, Corryhavvie being over 2,500 feet,

BANFFSHIRE. 57

and Cook's Cairn just under that height. It has been
a forest from time immemorial, and will easily carry
two rifles every day of the season, while as it is very
carefully shot, no sanctuary is required. No driving
is done. Lovat mixture is the best coloured cloth
to wear, and the annual average kill is fifty stags,
which are weighed clean, but information has not
reached me as to the mean weight.

FOREST OF GLENAVON BY BALLINDALLOCII.

This fine forest, of which the late Lord Henry
Bentinck was for a long time the tenant, is at present
rented by Mr. Godman, and marching on the north
with the forests of Abernethy and Glenmore, on
the south it runs with those of Mar and Invercauld.
It contains 40,000 acres of wild rocky ground, in
which lie some of the highest hills in Scotland, and
on their steep sides several pairs of eagles nest each
season.

Ben Macdhui, 4,296 feet, Cairn Gorm, 4,084 feet,
and Ben Avon, 3,845 feet, together with many other

I

58 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

hills nearly as high, are all within the confines of
this property, the lower lying portions of which
abound in fine corries and splendid pasture. The
estate, which was cleared in 1841, hardly grows any
wood, but quiet and shelter are offered the deer in
a sanctuary of some 5,000 acres. Three rifles can
go out daily, while just at the end of the season
a fourth can join in the sport. No driving is done,
and the limit of eighty-five stags is nearly always
reached by fair stalking. At the foot of Cairn-
Gorm lies Loch Avon, in close proximity to which
is the celebrated "shelter stone," in which a dozen
men can rest, and here in the days of Highland
feuds and cattle lifting many good Highlanders,
intent on bloodshed or pillage, passed their nights.
For some twenty miles the Avon River, renowned
for the clearness of its waters, runs through the
forest till it reaches the Lynn of Avon, near the
forest lodge, and there each autumn congregate many
spawning salmon from the Spey.

59

Chapter IV.

BUTESHIRE.

Here there is but a single forest, the celebrated one of
Arran, belonging, but a short time past, to the late Duke
of Hamilton, and left by him to his infant daughter,
the Lady Mary Louise Douglas-Hamilton. Although
there have ever been a few deer in Arran, it was
first regularly afforested in February, 1859, and in
that month Captain Robert Sandeman took to the
island, for the late Duke, fourteen hinds in calf,
along with six young stags from Knowsley Park,
^nd now deer are more or less over the whole
property, although they stay chiefly between
Brodick Castle and the Lodge of Dubhgharadh,
in which latter part there is the sanctuary of some
3,000 acres, while at Brodick a quantity of natural

6o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

birch, Scotch fir and larch plantation affords splendid
wintering.

Grey cloth is best suited to the ground. The highest
hill is the well-known Goatfell, 2,866 feet, or the
hill of the wind. No driving is done, and the average
kill is 45 stags, with a mean weight of 17. stone
4 lbs., heart and liver included. Having started his
forest in February, 1859, the late Duke, whom I
had the pleasure of knowing for many years, and
who was a fine rifle shot, commenced stalking in
1862, and up to 1880 he killed many very big
stags, of which the heaviest weighed 29 stone 8 lbs.
From that date both heads and bodies began to get
smaller, and since then fresh blood has been introduced
on nine different occasions. John Mackenzie, the
head forester, has been in Arran with the late Duke
for over thirty years, and he relates that prior to
1879 there had not been an eagle's nest in the
island for many a day, when in that year a pair
returned to nest on Goatfell, and since that
date there has always been one or two pair,

BUTESHIRE. 6i

which shows how quiet and preservation will tell
eventually, for needless to say these birds are strictly
preserved. While speaking of the preservation of
these splendid birds, and indeed of all rare birds,
I cannot refrain from expressing my detestation
at the ways of some of our bird stuffers and o.^^
dealers, who send circulars to foresters, keepers, gillies,
and shepherds, containing a printed list of the birds
and eggs they require, with the price they will pay
for the same marked against each variety. Many of
these circulars must fall into the hands of poor men, to
whom the offer of a pound or more is of considerable
import ; many, however, must fall into the hands
of men above want and holding responsible positions,
and I would advise the employers of such to ask them
to forward all circulars to them, and then I think
if the senders were "gibbeted" in The Field,
that it might perhaps make some of their customers
fight shy of dealing with them, and thus the fear
of loss of trade might force an abandonment of this
odious plan of tempting servants and others to supply

63 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

them with specimens of birds that without preservation
will eventually become extinct. In December, 1894,
the late Duke turned down a wapiti hind, and
though at first the ladies of the red deer family were
mortally afraid of her, they became good friends by
degrees, and it only remains to be seen if she will
breed.

A remarkable feature of the island is the absence
of foxes, stoats or weasels, neither ever having
been known to exist there, but badgers are in
plenty, all having sprung from a single pair turned
down by the late Duke.

The grand hall at Brodick contains a splendid
show of horns, while the lodge of Dubhgharadh
on the west side of the island presents a most
unique and remarkable appearance, as it is covered
outside with over two hundred pairs of horns. It is
on this side of the isle that stalking is commenced, and
continued later at Brodick as the season advances,
where many wild stags come into the park and
appear quite tame, but well they know that there

BUTESHIRE. 63

they are never interfered with, and that they can
come and go as they please ; the moment, however,
they regain the hill they resume all their cunning
and wildness.

64 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Chapter V.
CAITHNESS.

FORESTS OF BRAEMORE AND LANGWELL BY BERRIED ALE.

This fine ground, the only afforested part of the
county, belongs to the Duke of Portland, and the
two estates together contain some 40,000 acres,
covering about 63 square miles. Up till 1880 Brae-
more was a separate estate, when it was purchased
and cleared by the present Duke, and added to
Langwell proper, on which last-named ground afforest-
ing had been commenced in 1857, and ultimately
completed in 1864, and on both properties very large
sums have been expended. The interior of this
forest presents a continuous succession of hills and
valleys, following the course of the Braemore and
Langwell streams, and though the valleys are narrow,

CAITHNESS. 65

Steep and rugged, they are yet clad with fine pasture,
while many of their bases are well wooded with natural
birch and hazel, affording good winter shelter for the
deer. Although the hills do not display peaked and
jagged outlines, they are yet steep and sterile, rising
to their highest altitude of 2,313 feet on the summit
of Morven, or the Big Hill. The lowest forest ground
is chiefly peat, moss and heather, well cut up with
water-courses, which are frequently the only friendly
cover the stalker finds, and along which, clad in
the yellow and white mixture found best suited to
the ground, on hands and knees the stalking party
must make their way to the quarry. On the north
the forest is bounded as well as sheltered by an
almost unbroken range of high hills, comprising the
Skerabins, or Hill of Scars, 1,500 feet. The Maiden
Pap, Morven, and Cnoc-nearnach, or Hill of the
Irishman, so named "from a tradition that a native
of the Emerald Isle once perished on it. Between
Morven and Torbreach, and near the top of the
forest, there is a sanctuary of some 2,000 acres.

K

66 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Donald Ross, the genial and veteran stalker, who
first went to Langwell in 1848, is now pensioned
off, and Archibald McEwan reigns as head forester
in his stead. The ground will carry four rifles every
day, who make up the bag by fair stalking only, and
depending on the fineness of the season, the total
kill varies from eighty to one hundred stags, scaling
on an average 16 stone each, with heart and liver
included, and in this number there are always some
royal heads. In 1888 a melancholy event occurred
here, for on the 26th of August of that year Sir
John Rose, while out after deer, died on the hill.
Up to the moment of his sudden death he had
been in his usual good health, but on that day,
after firing at a stag, he dropped down and expired
from apoplexy.

The following further particulars of Langwell will
be of interest to sportsmen, as they show the length of
time required to make a forest under favourable cir-
cumstances, and how speedily efficient and persevering
preservation of grouse produces the desired result.

CAITHNESS. 67

These notes are collected from a statement made
by Donald Ross for the present Duke of Portland,
to whose kind courtesy I am indebted for them
and all else I have to say about this forest.

Donald Ross came to Langwell as gamekeeper
in 1848, the estate then belonging to Mr. Donald
Home. As Ross naively observes, gamekeepers in
the north at that period were not so numerous as
at present, and one man would often be expected
to look after 40,000 acres of ground, and Donald
himself well exemplifies how that one man with
his heart in his work can accomplish wonders.

In 1848 pole-cats, now quite extinct, were plentiful
in Langwell ; wild cats abounded, and these, if not
quite done away with, are so nearly gone that the
capture of one is quite a remarkable event. At
these vermin Donald went with a will, for during the
first year of his service he destroyed fifty pole-cats,
twenty-eight wild cats, five foxes, two otters, one mar-
ten cat, and over two hundred weasels, together with
a number of ravens, " hoodies," harriers, falcons, and

68 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

various other hawks : a wonderful total ! The grouse
bags in Langwell at that time ranged from nine to
eighteen brace a day to two guns. The whole estate
was under sheep, while few deer frequented it, and
but some half-dozen, hinds included, were got each
season. In 1857 the late Duke of Portland bought
the property and at once began to afforest it. In
1859 the game bag for the season was four red deer,
two roe, sixty-nine hares, one hundred and eighty-
eight rabbits, seventy grouse, and seventeen part-
ridges, while in the two following years it was much
about the same. From 1868 to 1875 Viscount
Galway and the Hon. G. Monckton shot Langwell.
In 1868, nine years after being cleared. Lord Galway
had twenty-four stags and Mr. Monckton twenty-six,
or, fifty between them ; but as in those days Langwell
did not possess a weighing machine, no mention
can be made of weights. In 187 1 Lord Galway
got forty-two stags and Mr. Monckton fifty-one ;
the ninety-three averaged 14 stone 5 lbs., with heart
and liver included, and the best twenty beasts gave a

CAITHNESS. 69

mean weight of 18 stone 5 lbs. In addition to the
stags, 1,115 brace of grouse were shot, which speaks
volumes in favour of preservation as compared
with the eighteen brace a day only sometimes
got in i860. In 1877 the forest was not shot,
and but twenty stags were killed by Donald by
the Duke's orders, and distributed amongst the
tenantry and others. In 1878 the Earl of Cork

and his party got 45 stags and 1,600 brace of grouse,
and again in 1879 49 stags with 2,000 brace of
grouse. From this it will be seen that Langwell
Forest developed itself well and speedily.

From 1858 to 1868 but 43 stags were killed in
the nine seasons, and then the fun began, as already
related, with a score of 50 for the tenth season. In
1868 there were between 900 and 1,000 deer of all
sorts on the ground, as compared with about 120 in
1859. In this rapid increase it must not be over-
looked that in those days there was no railway in
Kildonan Strath, and thus Langwell profited to some
extent by the Sutherland deer coming into the freshly

70 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

cleared ground. As showing how far deer will travel
when there is no barrier against them, such as
is made by a railway, Donald mentions that in
1873 a three-horned stag was shot in Langwell by
Mr. Monckton which had been shot at in Inchbae
forest by Garve, in Ross-shire, in 1868; there is no
chance of any mistake, for Donald Ross knew the
stag well, and so it turned out did his brother, John
Ross, who was at that time stalker in Inchbae to
my old friend. Major Vaughan Lee. The railway
having cut off the interchange of blood with other
forests, park deer from Welbeck were introduced to
Langwell in 1877, and right well they have answered
their purpose.

71

Chapter VI.
FORFARSHIRE.

FOREST OF CAENLOCHAN BY ALYTH.

This forest, formerly the property of " the gracious
gude Lord Ogilvie," so styled in the ballad of the
battle of Harlow, fought in 141 1, now belongs to
his descendant, the present Earl of Airlie, and is
now let to Mr. G, W. Henderson. It extends to
a little over 9,000 acres, and was first cleared of
sheep about sixty years ago, while as it marches
with the forests of (Irlencally, Glendoll, and Inver-
cauld, the deer can wander from one to the other
as they choose, and thus the interchange of blood
is continuous. A striking feature of the ground is
the large glen running north, through the centre,
which, on nearing the head of the forest, divides

72 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

into Glencannes on the east and Caenlochan on
the west. This forest contains the highest hills in
the county, of which Glass Maol, 3,502 feet, is the most
lofty. There are 400 acres of well-grown plantations
for winter shelter, and the ground, in favourable
winds, will carry two rifles each day, who should
get, by fair stalking, 50 to 60 stags each season,
averaging j 3 stone 1 2 lbs., weighed with heart
and liver included. This property has been owned
by the Ogilvies from almost time immemorial, and
at one period the tenants of the Earl were bound,
by a clause in their agreement, to bring in to
Cortachy Castle all deer killed in Caenlochan from
the spot where they fell, but as there is an ancient
foot and bridle-path belonging to the ground, and
passing right through it, this was not probably such
an onerous condition as may at first sight appear.
In days gone by this path was much used by cattle
lifters, and it was on this track that one Mudie of
Crandart and his five stepsons, Grewar by name,
once surprised and slew with their broadswords a

FORFARSHIRE, 73

much larger force of raiders. All the caterans but
one fell before the sword of Mudie, and the solitary
rascal that escaped fled, vowing vengeance ; he was
as good as his word, for a short time afterwards
three of the Grewar brothers were surprised by the
relations of the vanquished men ; they immediately
fled, and separated for greater security ; one fleet-
footed brother saved his life by hiding in the rocks
of the Dhu Loch, near Loch-na-gar ; a second,
equally active, secured his retreat by leaping the
Altoetch Burn, swollen on that day by heavy rain
to an impossible size, and the spot still goes by the
name of " Grewar's Leap " ; the third brother had
nearly made good his escape when he trod on a
patch of frozen snow, near the top of Monega, and
slipping, he fell right down to the very feet of his
pursuers, who quickly killed him, and that spot in
the forest is yet called " Grewar's Gutter." At one
period there was a good deal of poaching in this
forest, carried on by otherwise quite respectable
people, and when any of them were caught in the

L

74 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

act a fine was usually imposed by the forester's
employer, which was paid without a murmur, and
there all proceedings ended.

Whatever may be the origin of the Airlie drummer-
boy, he is at times reputed to quit Cortachy Castle
and play his tattoo round Tulchan Lodge in Caen-
lochan Forest. One tradition is to the effect that
a drummer-lad having in some way angered an
ancient Earl of Airlie, he was ordered to be shut
up in his drum and thrown from the walls of
Cortachy, and ever since that deed the drummer-boy
never fails to beat his tattoo at Cortachy or Tulchan
Lodge whenever disaster or death is coming to the
" bonnie house of Airlie."

There is also a legend, in Caenlochan, that one
McCombie once surprised, caught, and carried
off a mermaid to his house at Crandart, where
his captive began to negotiate for her freedom, and
McCombie demanded, as his price, some fore know-
ledge of the time, place or manner of his death ;
whereupon his prisoner, pointing out a large stone on

FORFARSHIRE. 75

the hill, told him he would surely die with his
head immediately above it. To make certain of
defeating this prophecy, which McCombie regarded
as indicating a violent death, he took up the stone
and built it into his cottage wall. Some years later
McCombie fell ill, and his couch being moved from
one room to another, he died in his bed, with his
head over the very stone, as predicted by the captured
mermaid !

FOREST OF GLENCALLEY BY GLENISLA.

This small but good little forest of 3,000 acres,
formed in 1872, belongs to Sir John Kinloch of Kin-
loch, and at present is rented by Mr. C. B. Lambert.
It marches with Caenlochan and Glendoll, and on
it are the high hills of Final ty (3,000 ft), and Bywalps
(2,900 ft.). It carries one rifle nicely, whose average
kill should be 27 stags of 15 stone each, without heart
or liver. A royal head or two is usually got each
season, and, in addition to the cleared ground, there
is 5,000 acres of good grouse shooting.

76 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF GLEN DOLL BY KERRIEMUIR.

This forest is owned by the heirs of Mr. Duncan
Macpherson, and is usually let. It extends to a little
over 10,000 acres, and marches with Bachnagairn,
Glencally and Caenlochan. There is a small sanc-
tuary, and later on there will be good wood for
wintering, but it is too recently planted to be of any
immediate use. The highest hills are Tombuie, the
yellow hill, and Tolmont, the peat hole, both about
3,000 ft. high. It will carry two rifles, and 40 stags
is the annual kill, all got by fair stalking, with an
average weight of 14 stone, heart and liver included.
The late General Craelock, whose drawings of the
deer forest are so well known, rented this forest in
1890, and it is very fully described in his deer
stalking book.

FOREST OF INVERMARK BY BRECHIN.

This forest, the property of the Earl of Dalhousie,
is at present jointly rented by Lord Hindlip and
Lord Dudley and spreads over some 20,000 acres

FORFARSHIRE. 77

of forested land, in addition to which there is about
10,000 acres of extra good grouse ground. On
the west and south-west these lands march with
Glenmuick, Glendoll, and the Hunthill sheep walks ;
on the south-east they spread away up to the summit
of Mount Keen, 3,000 feet, on the watershed of which
hill the boundaries run with the forest of Glen Tana.
There is a good road from Brechin to Invermark
Lodge, a distance of twenty-two miles, over which I
made several pleasant journeys in the autumns of
1884 and 1885, when the late Sir Robert B. Harvey
leased this forest and I had the good fortune to be
one of his guests. About a mile before reaching
the present house of Invermark the road passes
the ruins of the old castle, formerly a stronghold
of the Lindsays and most picturesquely placed on
the banks of the North Esk.

The forest is divided into three beats ; over the
southern one John Mitchell, the head forester, used
to preside when I was at Invermark ; John Mac-
gregor ruled over the north beat, and a third man

78 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

had charge of the middle one. It is a fine open
"rolling" country and without any very rocky hills;
some of them are yet thought by many to be
quite high enough before the top is reached. They
range from 1,500 feet up to 3,000 feet, but they
are big "lumps" of hills and do not rise to jagged
peaks ; for this reason they are in places somewhat
bare of stalking cover, and more often than not
long shots have to be taken — that is, at distances
ranging from 1 20 to 200 yards.

There is no sanctuary and no wood for wintering,
and many of the Invermark deer seek shelter in
the dense woods of Glen Tana and Glenmuick,
while a few come down to the grouse ground at
Invermark, and the banks of the North Esk, on
which there is a certain amount of natural wood.
The forest will carry three rifles daily. The south
beat is the best, and between the other two there
is nothing to choose. There are good pony paths
in the forest, and the one that winds up "The
Drum" is of a nearly sensational character. This

FORFARSHIRE. 79

hill being of the shape of half a sugar loaf cut
through lengthways, the path zig-zags along the face,
and each time a turn is taken the pony track comes
very close to the edge of a precipitous descent, down
which if the pony slipped it would be good-bye to
all things.

Many royalties and celebrated men have stalked
in this forest, and Her Majesty has passed through
it and over the summit of Mount Keen on her
way to Balmoral, and at the foot of the ascent
" Her Majesty's Well " still remains as a memento
of her visit. On the occasion of royal visits it has
sometimes been the custom to have just one deer
drive, but as a rule all the stags are killed by
stalking ; they do not run very large either in body
or horn, and the average kill is about fifty, weighing
just under 14 stone clean. To judge the Inver-
mark stags of the present by the horns of their
ancestors which decorate the various rooms of the
Lodge, the deer of to-day must have deteriorated
very much during the last twenty or thirty years,

8o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

for the old heads are far finer in all respects than
any that can now be seen in this forest. In the
early part of the season large bags of grouse are
made in the deer ground round the heather-clad
bases of the high hills, and the deer do not seem
to mind the noise of the shooting, &c., in the least,
for when first disturbed they merely trot off to
some high grassy top, and there they will stand
watching the proceedings of the shooters in the
valley.

8t

Chapter VII.
INVERNESS-SHIRE.

FOREST OF ABERNETHV, BY NETHY BRIDGE.

The Dowager Countess of Seafield is the owner of
these lands, which were first cleared in 1869, and
spread over 26,000 acres, about one-third being
wood, affording a vast tract of fine winter shelter for
the deer. The forest marches with that of Glenmore,
and contains many high hills, chief amongst these
being Cairn-gorm (4,084 ft.). The yearly total is
60 stags a season, showing an average of 14 stone
each, weighed with heart and liver included, and
here one of the best beasts of recent years was shot
in 1892, by Mr. Payne — a fine fourteen-pointer of
18 stone.

In or about the year 1630 this forest was the

M

82 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

scene of bloodshed, as one James Grant, of the
Carron family, having in some feud made matters
unpleasantly uncomfortable for himself, escaped to
these regions, and, collecting a party of fellow
desperadoes, he proceeded to harry all the district
round about, and especially the lands of his chief
enemy and relation. Grant of Balllndalloch. As a
nephew of his, John Grant, of Carron, was one day
cutting timber with seven or eight others in Aber-
nethy forest, Balllndalloch suddenly pounced on him
with a force double in numbers and thoroughly armed,
and, under pretence of seeking James Grant, John
Grant's party was attacked and John himself
was killed after a desperate resistance, for he and
his companions sold their lives very dearly. Sir R.
Gordon, the historian of those days, in his remarks
on this encounter, quaintly says : " Give me leave
heir to remark the providence and secrait judgement
of the Almightie God, who now hath mett Carron
with the same measure that his forefather, John
Roy Grant of Carron, did serve the ancestor of

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 83

Ballendallogh (being the eleventh day of September)
the verie same day of this month was Carron slain
by John Grant of Ballendallogh, many yeirs there-
after. And, besides, as that John Roy Grant of
Carron was left-handed, so is this John Grant of
Ballendallogh left-handed also ; and moreover it is to
be observed that Ballendallogh, at the killing of this
Carron, had upon him the same coat of armour or
maillie-coat which John Roy Grant had upon him
at the slaughter of the great-grandfather of this
Ballendallogh, which maillie-coat Ballendallogh had,
a little before this tyme, taken from James Grant in
a skirmish that passed between them. Thus wee doe
sie that the judgements of God are inscrutable, and
that in His own tyme He punisheth blood by blood."

FOREST OF ACHNACARRY BY FORT WILLIAM.

This fine and historical property, belonging to
Cameron of Lochiel, is at times let for the season,
but is also often kept by the proprietor for his own
sport. Those parts of the lands of Gulvain which

82 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

scene of bloodshed, as one James Grant, of the
Carron family, having in some feud made matters
unpleasantly uncomfortable for himself, escaped to
these regions, and, collecting a party of fellow
desperadoes, he proceeded to harry all the district
round about, and especially the lands of his chief
enemy and relation. Grant of Ballindalloch. As a
nephew of his, John Grant, of Carron, was one day
cutting timber with seven or eight others in Aber-
nethy forest, Ballindalloch suddenly pounced on him
with a force double in numbers and thoroughly armed,
and, under pretence of seeking James Grant, John
Grant's party was attacked and John himself
was killed after a desperate resistance, for he and
his companions sold their lives very dearly. Sir R.
Gordon, the historian of those days, in his remarks
on this encounter, quaintly says : " Give me leave
heir to remark the providence and secrait judgement
of the Almightie God, who now hath mett Carron
with the same measure that his forefather, John
Ruy Grant of Carron, did serve the ancestor of

INVERNESS-SHTRE. 83

Ballendallogh (being the eleventh day of September)
the verie same day of this month was Carron slain
by John Grant of Ballendallogh, many yeirs there-
after. And, besides, as that John Roy Grant of
Carron was left-handed, so is this John Grant of
Ballendallogh left-handed also ; and moreover it is to
be observed that Ballendallogh, at the killing of this
Carron, had upon him the same coat of armour or
maillie-coat which John Roy Grant had upon him
at the slaughter of the great-grandfather of this
Ballendallogh, which maillie-coat Ballendallogh had,
a little before this tyme, taken from James Grant in
a skirmish that passed between them. Thus wee doe
sie that the judgements of God are inscrutable, and
that in His own tyme He punisheth blood by blood."

FOREST OF ACHNACARRY BY FORT WILLIAM.

Tins fine and historical property, belonging to
Cameron of Lochiel, is at times let for the season,
but is also often kept by the proprietor for his own
sport. Those parts of the lands of Gulvain which

86 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

subsequent replacement of the sheep ; this somewhat
remarkable fact, which certainly is not the case
with other sheep grounds, is accounted for by the
protection afforded to the deer by the thickness
of the old wood and old heather, and the further
guard against all disturbance provided by the
water boundary of Loch Arkaig side. This method
of working answers well when Achnacarry is
let for the season, as thereby is afforded a very
large extent of what is practically, though not strictly
speaking, forested ground, while even if anything
should go wrong the tenant has to deal with the
landlord only, and not with third parties. Loch
Arkaig, which is some fourteen miles long, bisects
this ground, and by the aid of a steam launch it
forms an exceptionally useful and pleasant way of
sending sportsmen to and from their beats on either
side or at the far end of the loch. Achnacarry and
that part of Gulvain going with it yield an average
of about sixty stags each season ; a greater number
could doubtlessly be killed, but it is rarely that

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 87

more than two rifles go out except quite at the
end of the season, and then perhaps, if the wind
is in the right airt and the house full of guests, a
third is sometimes given a chance. Also with regard
to the number of stags killed, it must be borne in mind
that the number of stalks to be got each day is some-
what curtailed by the fact that at Achnacarry there
are no paths up the hills so as to shorten the time
taken by each party to reach the scene of actual opera-
tions. Neither does the owner of Achnacarry pick
his guests on account of their being good shots ; a
bad one is as welcome as a good if he be but a
keen sportsman.

The stags weigh exceptionally well, and the
average, after casting one or perhaps two small
beasts killed by accident, has for some years past
been over 16 stone, including heart and liver, which
are always weighed here on the ground that they
are edible, and brought home for the express purpose
of being eaten.

In the season of 1894 the seven best deer made

88 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

19 Stone, and twenty-one of them were just over
1 7 stone. These good weights the owner of Ach-
nacarry attributes in a great measure to the fact
that most of his neighbours have joined him in a
compact not to shoot stags out of season or " far
run" or even "run" at all, and on the loth of
October stalking is ended.

With regard to Lochiel's method of weighing,
viz., with heart and liver left in the carcase, there
are also many gentlemen who follow this system ;
at the same time it should not be overlooked that
part of the poch-a-buie — the tripe — is also brought
home for eating, and yet that is never by any chance
included in the stag's weight. I am sure all stalkers
will agree with the idea that there should be but
one recognized method of weighing deer, and if
such a plan were adopted, then in future there
never could arise any misapprehension as to a deer's
real weight. It will be seen from a perusal of
these pages that there are more people who weigh
their stags "quite clean" — that is without heart.

INVERNESS.SHIRE. 89

liver or lungs — than there are of those who include
these in the weight ; this then being the case, may
not the question be put as to whether the minority-
should not yield gracefully to the majority in a
matter of no real importance ? Certainly, as regards
the forest with which I am now dealing, it could
not possibly make any difference, for sixty stags of
over 16 stone with heart .and liver, or sixty stags
of over 15 stone without heart or liver, is distinctly
a very fine average which is not often surpassed.
Of course in a forest where beasts average a little
over 13 stone, with heart and liver, it will sound
perhaps better to speak of them in this way instead
of alluding to them as a little over 12 stone v/ithout
these appendages !

By ceasing to stalk strictly on the loth of October,
and in early seasons even a few days sooner, the
calves become the offspring of the best sires of the
forest and not of some chance and perhaps small stag,
who steps into the shoes of the big one that has
been killed. Some time ago a very curiously marked

N

90 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Stag suddenly appeared in Achnacarry ; he had a
perfectly white face, and after every enquiry had
been made from the neighbours, it could not be
discovered that he had ever been seen before,
although he was a full-grown beast with six points —
not a very big stag, but yet not a very small
one. For ten years he remained in Achnacarry,
with the exception of one season, the eighth, when
he was not seen ; at the end of the ten years he dis-
appeared as suddenly and as mysteriously as he had
come, and has never been seen or heard of since. If
killed, it must have been poachers' work, for all the
neighbours knew of him, so that no rifle was ever
pointed at him, and although the deer-stealer may
perhaps have accounted for his vanishing, it is after all
not so remarkable as his first sudden appearance, and
where he came from must ever remain a puzzle, for
no one could have failed to notice a beast so strange,
as the whole front of his face from forehead to tip
of nose was so purely white and so conspicuous
that even at a good distance he could be seen

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 91

without a glass when it was necessary to use one to
find his companions.

It is not possible to write of Achnacarry without
recalling to mind scenes of strife and warfare, both
historic and clanish. For nearly two centuries the
Camerons and the Mackintoshes were at bitter
enmity, and countless were the combats, large and
small, that took place between these rival clans.
The renowned Sir Ewan Cameron had a great deal
to do with gaining the battle of Killiecrankie, as
before the fight commenced he went round to his
men individually, exacting a promise from each to
conquer or die, and the rush of the Lochaber men
was the decisive moment of the day. The hero of
so many fights died in his bed at the age of ninety.
Of this chieftain tradition relates that, being over-
taken by darkness on a winter's day while crossing
some hills when on a warlike expedition, as he
and his followers laid themselves down in the snow-
covered heather, he detected one of them making
a large snowball to serve him as a pillow, whereupon

92 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Sir Ewan upbraided him bitterly with his effeminate
desire to make himself comfortable ! This gallant
gentleman also, when out on a skirmish with the
Fort William garrison, becoming detached from
his men, was surprised by an English officer of much
greater size and strength, who called on Sir Ewan
to surrender. That, however, was the last thing to
be thought of, and the two closed with equal fury ;
at length Lochiel struck his adversary's sword from
his hand, when both closed and fell to the ground,
where for long they wrestled in deadly grip. Bit by
bit the weight and strength of the Englishman began
to tell, until at last, being fairly above Lochiel, he
stretched out his neck to make himself free to draw
and use his dirk, when the chieftain, seizing the
opportunity, sprang at the throat of his foe like a
dog, and biting it right through, he held on so tightly
that he brought away his mouthful and killed his man.
Sir Ewan was worthily succeeded by his grandson,
though his father was still living, and only died one
year before him — "the gentle Lochiel," who suffered

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 93

SO severely in that ill-fated attempt of 1 745 to restore
Prince Charlie to the throne of his ancestors. In
that year Achnacarry was plundered and burnt by
the Duke of Cumberland's soldiers, and, like his
prince, the gentle Lochiel had to hide in the hills.
For eight days Prince Charles Edward lay hidden
in the wood of Torvuilt, opposite the ruins of
Achnacarry House ; while later, on August 26th,
1746, Captain George Munro, of Culcairn, a brother
of Sir Robert Munro, met his death on the banks
of Loch Arkaig by a bullet from the musket of
Dugald Roy Cameron, a devoted adherent to the
Pretender.

FOREST OF AFFARIC BY BEAULY.

This is one of the most western of the six Chisholm
forests, as it reaches nearly to the sea at Loch Duich,
on the west coast. It covers some 30,000 acres, and
marches on the south with sheep ground ; on the west
with Kintail ; on the east with Guisachan ; and on
the north with Braulen. In season 1895 it was rented

94 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

by Mr. Arnold Morley, but I have not been able to
collect any reliable details of what sport he or any
previous tenants have had, although I have heard
that in 1894 well over one hundred heavy stags
were got, a large number, taking into consideration
the extent of the forest. When, in 1893-4, Mrs.
Chisholm's factor gave his evidence before the
Highland and Island Commission, he stated the
three forests of Affaric, Glen-Cannich, and Erchless
held nineteen peaks, all reaching an altitude of over
3,000 feet, while the combined acreage of these three
properties was stated to be 80,000 acres, let to three
tenants at \s. 6d. an acre, or ^6,000 a year, but
I doubt if this rental has been maintained.

FOREST OF AMHUINSUIDH AND ARDVOURLIE BY
STORNOWAY.

These two grounds, for Ardvourlie has been
joined to Amhuinsuidh for over twenty-two years,
extend to some 55,000 acres, and are the property
of Lady Farquhar. Cleisham, the highest hill,

JNVERNESS-SHIRE. 95

rises to 3,200 feet, but the whole ground is hilly,
rocky, entirely devoid of all timber, and of a
peculiarly barren, sterile appearance. Owing to the
amount of rocky ground, the stalker here will do
best to clothe himself in mixtures of light blue and
grey. Deer drives are never resorted to, as four
rifles can go out daily ; the stags are weighed with
heart and liver, and scale about 12 stone 4 lbs. ;
seventy five is the usual total kill, and although it
will be noticed that the weights are very small, as
compared with those of the mainland, the venison
is excellent ; indeed the Harris stags appear to be
of an altogether smaller breed than the Ross-shire
deer, and even if some of them were transplanted
to English parks, and given the full benefit of fine
pasture and good climate, it is very doubtful if
they would increase to the size of the stags of the
mainland. They are very thickly coated with hair,
and often are lightish in colour, while naturally their
horns are in proportion to their bodies ; but a Harris
royal is usually as pretty a small but strong wild

96 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

head as one could wish to see. Eagles nest each
season in this forest, and under the watchful eye
of Frederick McAulay, the head forester, they are
never molested. Although Stornoway is the post
town of Amhuinsuidh House, so beautifully placed
on the sea-shore, it is more easily reached by those
coming from the south by steamer from Oban to
East Loch Tarbert.

FOREST OF ARDVERIKIE BV KINGUSSIE.

Of this place I have not been able to collect any
authentic details. In my map of the deer forests it
is put down as containing 26,990 acres, with the
greatest altitude 3,569 feet. On the south-west it
marches with the forest of Ben Alder — the only forest
which it joins — so that probably the deer of Ard-
verikie and those of Ben Alder are one and the same
animal, and the stags of this latter place are famed
for their bodies and heads. Ardverikie is always let
each season, and has had a good many tenants during
the last twenty years. It belongs to Sir James

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 97

W. Ramsden, by whom it was purchased some twenty
years ago, together with Ben Alder, from Cluny
Macpherson.

It was in this forest that Landseer painted a series
of frescoes on the walls of the old Ardverikie House,
comprising studies of his celebrated pictures, " The
Challenge," "The Stag at Bay," "Children of the
Mist," "The Dead Stag," and "The Forester's
Daughter." When the old house was burnt down,
the whole of these perished, but photographs of the
originals still remain in the possession of Sir George
Macpherson Grant, of Ballindalloch. In connection
with the destruction of old Ardverikie House may be
mentioned the curious coincidence that it should have
been burnt down on the very day that Landseer was
buried.

FOREST OF ARISAIG BY FORT WILLIAM.

Tins is a small forest owned by Mrs. Nicholson,
and at present let to Mr. R. G. Dunville. It is
situated on a peninsula, and covers between three

o

98 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

and four thousand acres, but I have not been able to
collect any reliable details.

It was in this forest that Prince Charles Edward
found himself on July i8th, 1746. On that day he
arrived at the summit of a hill at the eastern ex-
tremity of Arisaig, called Scoorvuy, and, having rested
there, he started afresh on that wonderful series of hair-
breadth escapes and wanderings which only terminated
when he was safely at sea, on his way to France.

FORESTS OF ARNISDALE AND LOCH HOURN BY GLENELG.

These two properties, owned since 1890 by Mr.
Robert Birkbeck, and purchased in that year from
Mr. Baillie of Dochfour, march with the forest of
Glenquoich and the Glenelg and Ratagan estates of
Mr. Baillie. The Loch Hourn ground covers some
14,000 acres of very steep, broken, high, rocky, sterile
country. The grazing is excellent, while the natural
woods offer perfect wintering for deer. These
grounds were cleared of sheep in 1890, and being
a new forest, at present only thirty stags are killed

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 99

on Loch Hourn during the season ; they are, how-
ever, exceptionally heavy ones, the top-weight of the
lot scaling 20 stone 7 lbs., clean. The Loch Hourn
division is kept by the proprietor for his own sport,
while Arnisdale is let each season, the present tenant
being Mr. Sellar, and it yields, off much the same
extent and nature of ground, a nearly similar kill
as Loch Hourn.

Both these forests are subject to the very heavy
rainfall of over one hundred inches a year, deep lies
the snow in winter, while the cold is often so intense
as to freeze the salt water of Loch Hourn. The hills
rise so abruptly from the sea that within half a mile
of the shore they reach 2,000 ft. in height, and there
are several peaks that exceed 3,000 ft. In some of
the valleys the sun only shines during the longest
days of summer, while at Loch Hourn head, as early
as November, the sun sets at one o'clock, and in
winter this is, indeed, a country in which the would-be
weather-wise "might easily perish by conceit of their
own fancied knowledge." Often also hay may be

loo THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

seen rotting in the fields in November, and before the
place was cleared of sheep, many hundreds perished
annually during the winter months. Like all other
gentlemen who purchase new property, Mr. Birkbeck
has spent considerable sums in improvements, the
crofters especially benefiting at his hands, for
he has greatly bettered their houses, which were
in a dreadful plight when he took possession ; none
of their dwellings were water-tight, chimneys and
windows were rare, roofs and walls were rotten, and
in wet weather the floors were deep in mud. Now,
however, water-tight houses with slate roofs are every-
where, and Mr. Birkbeck's crofters are fully alive to
all the kind works that have been done for them,
while many of them are employed at good wages
by the generous-hearted proprietor of these two
estates.

fOREST OF BALMACAAN BY INVERNESS.

This fine forest, on the banks of Loch Ness in
Glenurquhart, is owned by the Countess Dowager

INVERNESS-SHIRE. lor

of Seafield, and leased to Mr. Bradley Martin.

It spreads over some 28,000 acres of grassy corries

and fairly high hills, of which the highest is Meal-

fourvie, 2,284 feet. In addition to the excellent

pasturage, there are some 2,000 acres of wood, with

good grazing in them. It is bounded on the east

by Loch Ness ; on the west by the forest of Inver-

moriston ; while the other marches are sheep walks.

It was first afforested in 1857, and was cleared solely

because it was found impossible to let the grounds to

any sheep-farming tenant. Three rifles can go out

daily, and it now yields an average kill of sixty-twQ W'.},'',';;'

stags of 14 stone, heart and liver included. ^, , .\: '] ;,'."{'

The late Earl of Seafield killed many heavy stags
of upwards of 20 stone, the fine heads of which
now hang on the walls of Balmacaan House ; and
here, too, General Hope Craelock often stalked,
and on this ground took place many of the scenes
and adventures so vividly illustrated in his " Book
of the Deer Forests," The present tenant has
spent considerable sums of money on the place,

I02 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

and by his banker's book it was proved before the
last Deer Forest Commission that his expenditure
had averaged over ^10,000 a year during the
whole period of his tenancy.

In Balmacaan, which is Gaelic for " The town of the
son of Hector," also occurred one of those deplorable
tragedies of conqueror's cruelty, common to the history
of all nations, as after the battle of Culloden a party
of fugitives, having taken refuge in a barn, were
surprised by some of the Duke of Cumberland's
soldiers, who surrounded their refuge, set fire to it,
; ind either burned or killed the whole party, with the
.'•exception of one MacLean, who made good his escape
and alone lived to tell the tale.

On the confines of this forest, on the shore of
Loch Ness, are the ruins of the celebrated Castle
Urquhart or Urchard, and the loch itself, according
to traditionary legend, was formed in the following
manner : At one period the great glen, which now
lies under the waters of Loch Ness, was a beautiful
and fertile valley, containing a wonderful spring,

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 103

which having been blessed by one Daly the Druid,
its waters became for ever after an unfailing remedy
against all disease. The Druid, when bestowing this
healing power on the waters of the spring, placed a
stone over it, strictly enjoining that whenever it was
removed for reaching the water it should immediately
be replaced, or desolation would overtake the valley
the day his commands were disobeyed ; thus his
words became law with the people of the vale, and
year by year passed away in peace and plenty.
One fatal day, however, a woman went to draw
water, when just as she had removed the sacred stone,
a cry came from her cottage close by that her child
had set his clothes on fire, and back she flew to
save her infant, but forgetting to replace the stone.
On this the waters of the spring rose rapidly in such
a great volume as to overflow the valley, driving
the dwellers therein to take refuge on the hills,
until from all sides arose their cry of lamentation.
" Tha loch nis ann ! " " Tha loch nis ann ! " " There
is a lake now ! " which has remained ever since.

I04 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

while to this day the splendid sheet of water is
called Loch Nis or Loch Ness.

Incredible as this story of course must be, it may
yet however be true that at one time Loch Ness did
not exist, for beneath the waters of Lochnell near
Oban, some thirty years ago, there could be seen
on still bright days the remains of a sunken village
some fifteen feet below the surface. Nothing is
known in the neighbourhood as to how this village
became submerged, but there is the fact for certain,
and that which has occurred on Lochnell may also
have happened on a large scale to Loch Ness.

Early in the 13th century Castle Urquhart was
captured by King Edward and the English after a
protracted siege ; later on it became the chief strong-
hold of the Lords of the Isles, while after their
defeat at Harlaw to Sir Duncan Grant was entrusted
the command of the castle and the restoration of
order in those disturbed and out-of-the-way districts.
The Grants of Strathspey were originally a Strath
Enrick family, of whom tradition says tha.t they lost

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 105

their last possessions at Foyers on Loch Ness in
the following manner : the bride of Gruer Mor of
Portclair went forth, as was then the custom of
newly married women, to receive the presents of
her friends. At Foyers she was grossly insulted
by Laurance Grant, and the matter being reported
to her husband, he at once started to punish
the offender, sailing from Portclair with several
galleys full of fighting men. Grant and his clan
rowed out to meet them, when a desperate fight
took place in the bay to the west of Foyers, to
this day known as " Camus Mhorbh Dhaoine,"
" The Bay of the Dead Men."

Grant was eventually defeated, pursued, overtaken
and slain, at Ruidh Laurais, " Laurence's Slope,"
above Ruiskich, and Gruer seized and retained
Foyers. The clan Ic Nian at that time held castle
Urquhart, and long and stoutly they and the Mac-
donalds of Glenmoriston fought against the Grants
and the men of Strathspey, whom they roused to
fury by surprising and slaying a small party of

ic6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

their men, whose heads they cut off and sent to
John Grant, the chief of the clan, better known by
the name of the " Red Bard." Slowly but surely
the power of the Grants won the day, and The
Bard taking possession of Urquhart Castle ruled the
whole district with a strong hand, and history states
that in 1502 he sold the king "sixty-nine marts with
skins for £^1 2s. od." Later on in 1509 the properties
of Urquhart and Glenmoriston were bestowed on The
Bard in recognition of his services by a grateful
monarch, and all went pretty well until 15 13, when
one Sir Donald Macdonald of Lochalsh, who revived
and claimed the title of the Lord of the Isles, being
at enmity with the Grants, collected his forces and
seized Castle Urquhart, together with a great booty,
while for the following three years he forcibly held
the lands. At the end of this period the Grants
once more prevailed and returned to Castle Urquhart,
but in 1545 their possessions were again seized by
John of Moidart and his friends, who committed
depredations so serious that it took the glen several

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 107

years to recover therefrom, and to this day the
natives speak of the incursion as " The Great
Raid." In 1581 there appeared in the person of
the reigning John Grant, known as " Big John
of the Castle," a chieftain remarkable alike for his
personal strength and his influence with his neigh-
bours. Many are the tales still extant of his
extraordinary strength, one being to the effect that
when challenged to combat in Edinburgh by a
very strong Englishman, he shook hands with him,
as was customary at the outset of combats, and then
and there by pure force he squeezed the hand of the
Englishman into such a jelly that it ended the fight,
a feat, however, which within the last sixty years
has been imitated by a noted Cornish wrestler. On
another occasion when Big John of the Castle was
in London, he proved himself a man of resource as
well as of sinew, for on some gentleman referring
with a sneer to "the fir candles" still in use in
Glen Urquhart, Big John at once made a wager with
the scoffer that he would produce from his Highland

io8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

property a finer candlestick and more brilliant light
than could be found in London ; the wager was
duly made, and Iain MacEobhain Bhain was sent
for from the wilds of Glen Urquhart, a man distin-
guished alike for his wit, grace and fine figure.
At the appointed time Big John's opponent appeared
with a splendid silver candelabrum holding a great
quantity of the best wax candles, when in reply
to a signal from Grant, MacEobhain stepped forth
from behind a screen, arrayed in full Highland
costume, holding a blazing torch of pine in each
hand, while the delighted and astonished spectators
with one accord proclaimed " Big John " the winner
of the wager. Sad to relate, the name of this great
man is associated with the contemptible plunder and
murder of a pedlar in Glenmoriston.

FOREST OF BEN ALDER BY KINGUSSIE.

This is another of Sir James Ramsden's forests of
which I have not been able to gather any information
as to very recent doings. It contains 28,880 acres,

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 109

and marches with the forests of Rannoch and Corrour
on the south and west, Loch Erricht bounds it on
the east, and Ardverikie on the north. It is very
rugged, sterile-looking ground, and Ben Alder rises
to 3.757 ft-, while at about 2,500 ft. above sea
level there is a loch called Beallach-a-bhea of some
two miles in circumference, full of good trout.

In the days when I used to stalk at Corrour many
and long were the spies I had into this ground, and
at that time (1880) plentiful were the stags to be
seen on it. Well, also, do I remember meeting the
late Mr. Gretton in the train going north from
Perth in the days when he paid a big rent for
Ben Alder, and how greatly I was amused by his
naive admission, " that when he took to stalking he
had no idea it would interfere so much with racing."
The Leger week had just ended, and Mr. Gretton
was going up to the forest for a few days, only to
hasten back to the south to his more favourite pastime,
and after telling me this, he finished up by saying, " I
mean to have a deer drive one day whatever way the

iio THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

wind may blow or Clarke may say." Three days later
Mr. Gretton did have his drive, for on that same
day I was shooting grouse at Corrour, on the sheep
ground of Ben Alder glen, when suddenly in many
places in the sky-line there appeared large herds of
trotting, frightened, galloping deer; I think from five
to seven hundred beasts of all sorts must have been
put on to our ground, while later I heard Mr. Gretton
had insisted on his drive in spite of a bad wind and
all the entreaties of Edward Clarke, the then head
forester. Poor Clarke ! for nearly forty years he
had been in Ben Alder, till in the winter of 1888 he
met with his death from an accident in the forest he
was so devoted to ; for when out after hinds with his
son in the winter snows on the neaily precipitous
sides of Ben Alder, as bad fate would have it, they
sat down side by side on some snow-covered heather,
and the next second they were both rolling headlong
down the hill in the midst of a small avalanche. The
son escaped with a severe bruising and a broken
leg, which caused his progress in search of help

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 1 1 1

to be very slow, for in order to reach assistance, he
was compelled most reluctantly to leave his father,
who was still breathing ; a terrible snow-storm then
came on, and when at length the search party
arrived near the scene of the disaster, much precious
time was wasted in seeking out the exact spot
where poor Clarke had been left ; which, when it was
at length found, only disclosed, on the removal of the
snow, the forester's body frozen stiff beneath its
white shroud.

Ben Alder, afforested in 1838, had the Marquis
of Abercorn for its first tenant, and since then,
in addition to others. Lord Henry Bentinck, the
Earl of Zetland, Mr. Gretton and Baron J. W. H.
Schroder have each been tenants of this forest.
For many years it yielded from ninety to one
hundred stags each season, a total which has not
of late years been maintained. In 1886, when
Baron Schroder had it, he killed, with a view to
nursing, but thirty-one stags, which made the fine
average of 16 stone clean, and by degrees, under

112 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

his good management, the number of the slain was
worked up to fifty or fifty-five stags of the same
very heavy weight.

It was in this forest that Cluny Macpherson hid
for so long in the time of the Pretender, as for nine
years after Culloden he laid low in huts, caves and
vaults in this district, while during all that time a
heavy price was placed upon his head. A good part
of these years of concealment he passed on Ben Alder
in a singular natural retreat known as " The Cage,"
and here, when Prince Charles Edward escaped from
the Western Isles, he was entertained by Cluny for
some three months as well as circumstances would
permit.

When the Prince arrived in Ben Alder he was
actually in rags, but his devoted host soon put matters
right for him, Charles Edward then passing his spare
time in the study of Gaelic ; while, as he had for com-
panions both Cluny and Cameron of Lochiel, whose
trusty Highlanders kept them well supplied with the
necessaries and even some of the luxuries of life, it is

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 113

probable these three months passed in " The Cage "
must have been the pleasantest and most cheerful
time the Pretender had experienced since the fatal
day of Culloden.

When at last Cluny made up his mind to follow
the example of so many of his other brother chieftains
by seeking safety in France, he went to take leave
of Mr. Macdonald of Tulloch, an old deerstalking
friend, and on Cluny saying how much he wished
to kill one more deer in Ben Alder ere he quitted
his beloved country for ever, Macdonald and he at
once proceeded to put the plan into execution ;
arriving in the forest, they soon discovered a solitary
stag, but, on getting nearly within shot, something
alarmed him, and he bolted off full-tilt for about
two miles ; then suddenly stopping, he seemed to be
considering whether there was any real cause for
alarm ; at the end of the pause he abruptly wheeled
about and most deliberately cantered back to the
very spot he started from, where he was shot dead
by Cluny, who looked upon the manner of his last

Q

114 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Stalk as being a very good omen for the time to
come, in which he was not wrong, as proved by
future events.

It is impossible to read the accounts of Clunie's
adventures, during the nine years of his wanderings,
without being impressed with the chivalrous daring
of his character. Clearly he was a firm believer in
the old Highland saying of: "Better trust to a
bulwark of bones than a castle of stones," and if
ever there was a chieftain who was both " steel lord
and skin lord," Cluny Macpherson was he. The old
Highlanders used to call those chieftains " steel "
lords who kept and held their lands by the sword ;
the " skin " lords were those who relied on their title-
deeds engrossed on parchment to prove their rights.

One of the most ancient stories in connection
with Ben Alder relates to the days when wolves
were common in the mountain fastnesses. At that
period a Mr. Macpherson of Breakachy having
charge of this forest, was one day in quest of
venison accompanied by a servant when they came

INVERNESS-SHIRE. iij

on a wolfs den, the master promptly asking his man
whether he would choose to enter and destroy the cubs
or remain outside to keep guard against an attack
from the old ones, should they return ; the man
electing to stay without, his master forthwith crept
into the lair, and had no sooner disappeared from
view than the old wolves were seen approaching,
whereupon the man at once took to his heels without
even warning his laird of the danger. Macpherson,
however, being a strong, active man and well-armed,
killed the old wolves one after the other, and then
coming out of the cave, he saw his servant a long
way oif, and dissembling the contemptuous anger he
felt at his servitor's cowardice, he recalled him and
continued his way, merely saying that as it was now
late he intended to remain for the night in a forest
bothy near by. It was quite dark by the time this
was reached, and Macpherson, who entered first,
stretched out his hand to gather some dry heather
from the bothy bed in order to get material for a
fire, when to his surprise he found his fingers resting

ii6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

on the face of a dead man. Hiding all feelings of
astonishment, he turned to his servant, saying, " I
don't like the comforts of this bothy ; we shall get
better in the other one a short distance off," and
accordingly they sallied forth in search of this fresh
shelter, which being duly reached and a fire lit,
Macpherson, pretending he had left his powder-horn
on the bed of the first bothy, sent his man back
for it, and it may be readily guessed what a terrible
shock the dead body gave to the nerves of this
faint-hearted retainer, who fled back at top speed to
where he had left his master, but on regaining the
hut he found to his great dismay all was dark
and empty, for Macpherson had set off home as
soon as he saw his valiant man depart for the
powder flask. Tradition says the fright nearly cost
the man his life, "for he fevered and was many
weeks before he recovered."

INVERNESS-SHIRE.- ny

FOREST OF BOBLAINE,

This is a small forest of Lord Lovat's, let with
Beaufort Castle to Mr. Lucas Tooth. It is similar
ground to Farley, but has a larger area, and probably
contains the biggest wood in Scotland, of 2,500 acres
in extent. It marches with Lord Seafield's and
the Eskadaile shootings, but I have no particulars
of the number of stasfs killed.

FOREST OF BRAULEN BY BEAULV.

This is one of the seven deer forests owned by
Lord Lovat, and was afforested in 1835 by the
grandfather of the present Lord. The late Lord
Lovat was in the habit of letting Braulen and Struy
as a whole, and in those days the two combined
went under the name of Forest of Glenstrathfarrar.
Braulen, rented for the season of 1895 by Mr. J. W.
Baxendale, covers about 30,000 acres, in which are
many fine bold corries, and altogether it is a big-
featured ground of one long wide glen, with the sky-

ii8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

line the march on either side. Scour-na-lappich, the
Ridge of Mires, and Scour na Corrie Glas are both
well over 3,500 feet, and there are many other high
hills in the forest. It marches with Struy on the
north, with Glencannich on the south, and Patt
and Monar on the west. On the south side of the
glen, opposite the lodge, there is a large sanctuary,
while the slopes of some of the hills are well wooded
for wintering, although many of the Braulen deer
descend to the lower ground of Struy for winter
shelter. The kill is limited to ninety stags, which
average about 14 stone 10 lbs., clean. Braulen was
at one time one of Mr, Winans' chain of forests,
which reached from sea to sea and practically made
one vast sanctuary, out of which Mr. Winans had
the deer driven into Braulen, where he killed them.
When the late Lord Lovat first let Glenstrathfarrar
to Mr. Winans, there were fully 1,200 stags of all
sorts in the sanctuary, while during the last two
years of his tenancy Mr. Winans killed, by driving,
188 and 220 stags.

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 1 19

FOREST OF CAENNOCROC (nORTh) BY GLENMORISTON.

This is a good forest, belonging to Mr. J. M. Grant
of Glenmoriston, and is at present let to Lord Tweed-
mouth, who works it in conjunction with his own forest
of Guisachan. Cleared early in the century, it consists
of some 21,000 acres of fine corries, excellent grazing
and good stalking ground, the highest point of which
is Sgur-nan-Coubhairean, 3,682 feet. There is a
good-sized sanctuary and a small amount of wood,
which is, however, not much used by the deer for
winter shelter, as the lower lying woods of Glen-
moriston offer better quarters, to which most of the
North Caennocroc deer wend their way in hard
weather. This forest will carry three rifles, and,
independently of Guisachan, should yield upwards
of seventy-five heavy stags each season.

A rising ground near Caennocroc is still pointed
out as the scene of the battle in 1647 between the
Camerons and the Gordons, led by the Marquis of
Huntly ; and according to the glen tradition, Huntly.

I20 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

being severely wounded, owed his life to the kindness
of one Macdonald, of the Glenmoriston race of Mac
Iain Chaoil, who carried him on his back off the
battle-field. For this service the Marquis was so
grateful that he inscribed over the gate of his castle
the words, " Cha bhi Mac Iain Chaoil a mach, agus
Gordonach a stigh," " A Mac Iain Chaoil shall not
be without and a Gordon within."

Also in this forest, close to the public highway, there
is still to be seen the cairn that marks the spot where
the gallant young Roderick Mackenzie fell. The son
of an Edinburgh jeweller, he took up the cause of
the Stuarts, and, after Culloden, was hiding on the
lands of Caennocroc, when he was surprised by a
party of the king's soldiers, and bearing some personal
resemblance to Prince Charles, he was at once shot
down in order that they might gain the ;^30,ooo
reward that was placed on the Prince's head. This
devoted adherent made no attempt to deceive the
soldiers, and drawing his sword, refused to surrender
alive, and expired exclaiming : " You have murdered

INVERNESS-SHTRE. 121

your Prince ! " an act of self-sacrifice that went a long
way to ensure the Prince's safety, as for some
time it was believed Mackenzie was really the true
"adventurer from France"; and, until Government
was undeceived, the watchfulness of the pursuers was
much slackened.

FOREST OF COIGNAFEARN BY INVERNESS.

This magnificent sporting property, belonging to
the Mackintosh of Mackintosh, spreads over 38,500
acres, of which nearly 30,000 acres are afforested, the
remaining 9,000 acres being good grousing ground,
an adjunct which it is certainly most desirable
to have in connection with a forest, for even
" deer always " are apt to become monotonous,
and there is many a forest I know of from which
I would knock off three or four thousand acres
of low-lying good heather ground to turn them into
grouse shooting. Coignafearn has a large sanctuary
of some five miles long by three wide, while plenty
of birch wood with juniper offers shelter in severe

R

122 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

weather. This fine tract of country quite won all
the sporting instinct and nature of that charming
writer, the late Mr. St. John, who in his beautiful
book, "The Wild Sports of the Highlands," devotes
a whole chapter — " The River Findhorn " — to what is
now Coignafearn forest, and he ends it by saying : " I
wonder Mackintosh does not turn this into a deer
forest, for which it is specially adapted." This was
written about the year 1850, but it was not until
1883 that Mr. St. John's suggestion was carried out.
Situated in the Monadhliah mountains, the forest is
a splendid stretch of wild ground full of springs,
burns, tarns, grassy corries, while no less than three
good-sized rivers rise in and flow through it, viz., the
Croclach, the Eskin and the Dalveg, the three
eventually forming the Findhorn, of which this forest
is the watershed. Coignafearn is at present rented
by Mr. J. Bradly Firth, where a previous tenant,
Mr. Holland Corbett, once killed three thousand
brace of grouse entirely over dogs. It is high ground,
the house itself being 1,100 ft. above sea level, while

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 1J3

many of the hills run to over 3,000 ft. More than
two rifles seldom go to the hill, and the usual kill
is from 38 to 40 stags, which in the season of '93
averaged 15 stone 2 lbs. clean.

Some time about the middle of the sixteenth century
a tragedy, arising out of the following circumstances,
took place in the fastnesses of Monadhliah mountains.
Some of the clan MacNiven having insulted a
daughter of Cluny Macpherson, a very large force of
that powerful sept surprised the MacNivens, and in
a furious battle nearly the whole of this latter clan
was killed ; only eighteen men survived, who, escap-
ing to the recesses of the Monadhliah mountains,
built themselves a strong house, to which as a further
protection they added a secret room built behind
the back of the fire-place, thus gaining additional
safety with warmth at the same time, and in this
secret den these eighteen men lived undiscovered
for some years, getting their subsistence by
lifting cattle and poaching deer. At last their
house was found out, while the frequent cattle

Ii4 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

thefts began to make people think these outrages
might in some way be connected with the missing
MacNivens. Therefore it happened that one
Alexander Macpherson, a heavy loser by these
constant depredations, determined to try to find
out something about the inhabitants of this mysterious
house ; accordingly he feigned illness until his beard
had grown, and then disguising himself in other ways,
he arrived at the suspected house late in the evening,
pretending he had lost his way and was starving.
The door was opened by an old woman, who freely
offered him plenty of food, while sternly refusing
shelter. But Macpherson proved such a good beggar,
that at length he got leave to lie down in a corner,
where, curling himself up, he feigned sleep. Towards
midnight the eighteen MacNivens returned from a
foraging expedition, and not noticing Alexander,
they pulled back the slab by which they gained
the secret room. Alexander having been a witness
of the whole thing, then slipped off and returned
to his home with all speed, and summoning the

INVERNESS-SHIRE.

125

neighbours far and near, he retraced his steps next
day, when the whole of the remaining MacNivens
were killed after a desperate resistance.

FOREST OF CORRIECIIOILLIE BY FORT WILLIAM.

This forest belongs to Lord Abinger, and in
compliance with his wish I give but such meagre
details of it as are published for the benefit of the
world at large in the last blue book of " The
Highlands and Islands Commission." Before that
somewhat prejudiced, one-sided tribunal his lordship's
factor stated that Corriechoillie consisted of 22,500
acres of wild, broken, high and sterile ground, the
highest part of which reached an altitude of 3,990
feet. Afforesting was commenced in or about 1870
and finished in 1883, the ground now yielding forty
stags, but no mention was made of weights. The
arable lands adjoining this forest have been protected
from the deer by some nine miles of wire fencing.
The autumns at Fort William are very wet, the
average rainfall for the year being about 75 inches,

126 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

April being the driest month, while the bulk of the
moisture descends from September to February,
which must interfere somewhat with the pleasures
of stalking just at the very best of the season.
It was through Corriechoillie that Montrose marched
into Glen Nevis with his army on the ist of
February, 1645, to fight the battle of Inverlochy
with the Duke of Argyll, whose army, panic-stricken
by the first onset, fled in all directions and were
much cut up by the victorious Highlanders, many
of the fugitives being overtaken and killed in
Corriechoillie.

CORROUR WITH BENEVRICH BY KINLOCH RANNOCII.

These lands were purchased not very long ago
by Sir John Stirling Maxwell from Colonel Walker,
and extend to over 30,000 acres of every description
of ground, which, until the recent railway to Fort
William was brought through the moor of Rannoch,
was always a "remote and inaccessible" part of
Scotland.

INVERNESS -SHIRE. 127

The hill of Benevrich — Ben-y-vricht or Ben Vreek

— the Corrie of Corriecraegacht or Corriecraegus,

and the braes of Loch Treig have ever been famed

for their deer, and it was of this ground the

old Scotch hunter-bard sang when so pathetically

bemoaning in Gaelic his old age, in the well translated

poem commencing —

" Great was my love in youth and strong my desire
Towards the bounding herds,
But now broken and weak and helpless,
Their remembrance wounds my heart."

In days gone by when I stalked at Corrour with the
late Mr. Henry Spencer Lucy, the whole ground was
not afforested. Corrie Craegus, Corrie Vallich, Corrie-
na-cloich, with the Green Face, which joined Ben
Alder and Rannoch, were cleared ground, and there
the most of our deer were got, but Ben Eibhinn,
3,611 feet, and Ben-na-lapt, 3,060 feet, have both
been put under deer since those days, so that pro-
bably the present kill is nearly double to what it
was then, when two rifles used to average twenty-five
stags a season, scaling about 14 stone 12 lbs. clean.

128 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

The heads were unusually stout, wild, rough and
black, for before Mamore was entirely wired in by
the late Mr. Thistlethwaite, the hinds of Corrour
found mates from there, from the Black Mount, from
Ben Alder and Arderikie, so that no forest could
possibly be better placed for incessant change of
blood, and the " hind ground " of Corrour was ever
doing good service as a nursery to the young
stags of all those adjoining forests. In the rutting
season so incessantly continuous was the coming to
and fro of stags that Allan MacCallum, the head
stalker, who during the season lived chiefly at Corrour
Lodge, ever kept an early look out over "the flat"
of Corrour, across which the Black Mount deer were
accustomed to travel, and more than once Allan
was in time to arouse his master and get him into
the pass leading to Corrie Craegacht for which the
deer usually made, but as on these occasions Mr.
Lucy, forced into a hasty toilet, merely pulled on his
knickerbockers and hurried a covert coat over his
nightshirt, while thrusting his stockingless feet into

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 129

his "hardy brogues," he thus presented an appearance
at which we had many a hearty laugh.

The celebrated hunter-bard already quoted was one
Donal MacFinlay, who lived in Fersit, on the very
spot now occupied by the shepherd's house ; he passed
his days on the hills of Loch Treig and tells how
in Corrie Chreagaich and Dhulochan he killed
wolves as well as deer with his arrows, for no
other weapon did Donal ever use. He died at
a very old age at Inverlair, not far from Fersit,
and in accordance with his last request he was
buried, wrapped in a deer hide, on the brow of
a hill overlooking Loch Treig, where, as he said,
" the deer could couch on his bed and the little
calves rest by his side " ; and to this day where
breathes the deer-stalker who could wish for a more
suitable or pleasanter resting-place ?

At the east end of Corrour, and now, I believe, in
view of the railway, is the celebrated Loch-an-Chlaid-
hamh, or Sword Loch, The story of how it won this
name is so interesting and so well authenticated that

s

I30 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

no excuse need be made for relating it here. In
the middle of the i6th century Cameron of Lochiel
then owned Benevrich with Corrour, with most of the
adjacent lands ; a long-standing dispute existed, how-
ever, with the Earl of Athol as to their marches and
the grazing rights of certain of the eastern slopes of
Benevrich, which were then, even as they are now,
famed for their rich pasturage ; therefore many, but
sanguinary, were the petty fights over this disputed
point which were continually taking place between
the followers of the two lairds. It happened that
Lochiel and the Earl of Athol met by chance in
Perth, when the Earl expressing his regret at the
constant loss of life entailed by the dispute,
proposed they should both meet on the property
in question, each bringing but two retainers, to
endeavour, on the spot and in a friendly manner,
to settle the boundaries. Lochiel at once consented
to such a reasonable offer ; a date was fixed, and
the day before the meeting was arranged to take
place he started with his two followers in order to

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 131

be in good time at the appointed rendezvous. On his
way he was met by the wise woman of Moy, who,
on hearing his errand, ordered him to turn back and
gather together " three score and five " of his stoutest
men, and to take them with him. In those times
no one dreamt of disputing the commands of a
reputed wise woman or witch, therefore Lochiel clid
as he was bidden, and marching off with his men,
he concealed them in a hollow close to the trysting
place. Before leaving them to meet the Earl, he
explained the purpose of his journey to his retinue,
and then showing them the cloak he wore had
a grey outside with a red inside, he said he would
meet the Earl with the grey side out, while if
there should be any sign of treachery he would
instantly reverse it to the red side, on which signal
his men should promptly advance to his aid.

At mid-day the parties duly met, each with his
two followers ; then began the discussion, which,
starting amicably, eventually developed into hot
words ; suddenly the Earl waved his bonnet, at

132 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

which signal fifty fully armed Athol men bounded
into sight from behind a hill that had hidden them.
Lochiel sternly asked the Earl what these men might
mean, and received for reply : " Oh ! these are just
fifty Athol wedders come to graze on Benevrich, so
now, Lochiel, as you are powerless, you must submit
to my terms for the settlement of dispute." In the
meantime Lochiel had taken off his cape and turned
it inside out, at which signal his sixty-five men
darted into sight as he replied to the Earl, "And
here are sixty-five Lochaber dogs, each one thirsting
to taste the flesh of the Athol wedders." As it
happened, the Lochaber men were nearer to the
Earl than his own men, so seeing at a glance
that it would be folly to engage a superior force
with the certainty of being killed himself, he frankly
admitted Lochiel had outwitted him, and immediately
agreed to yield all points in dispute, while then
and there he swore on the hilt of his sword — in those
days the most solemn Highland oath that could
be taken — that he would give up all claim to the

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 133

grazings of Benevrich, in token of which he hurled
his sword into the loch, "to remain for ever as
an acknowledgment of this compact." This done,
each side having fraternized, departed to their homes
with mutual good wishes. In the year 1826 this
very sword, or all that remained of it, was picked
out of the lake in a season of great drought, by the
son of the Caimb herd, who took it to a collector
of curiosities, the Rev. Dr. Ross of Kilmonivaig.
The story, however, got wind, and presently the
reverend gentleman was waited on by twelve stout
Lochaber men, who demanded back the sword as
a relic which no one had a right to remove, and
having obtained it, the remains of the old weapon,
of which nothing remained but the basket hilt and
a few inches of rusty blade, were once more deposited
in the loch with great solemnity.

Prince Charles Edward, when making his way
from Lochaber to shelter in the Cage of Ben
Alder with Cluny Macpherson, passed a few days
in Corrour, in a bothy on a hill called Mealaneach ;

134 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

here Lochiel with two attendants was also hidden,
and the Prince was for some time in danger of
meeting his death at the hands of his devoted
adherent, for they were at first taken for foes, and
Lochiel being wounded in the ankle, resolving to sell
his life dearly, the muskets of the bothy party were
actually levelled at the prince and his friends before the
mistake was happily found out. No trace of this bothy
now exists on Mealaneach, and many a good stag
has been killed on this hill since those days. It is
very stony, rocky, broken ground, where, if a solitary
stag chanced to be lying down, only very good and
sharp eyes could detect him. It was on this hill on
one Sunday in August, when taking a stroll with Mr.
Lucy, that we both saw the best head either of us had
ever seen on a living stag. We each had our glasses
with us and got within a hundred yards of him, but
he passed on to Corriecregach without being aware
of the two pairs of envious eyes fixed on him, or
the murmured expressions of our bad luck in not
being able to follow him up then and there. Next

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 135

morning we were both out at break of day, but
never again did we see this splendid head of fourteen
points, each of which was a real big one, neither
were we ever able to hear of any record of his death.
Sir John Stirling Maxwell is now building a new
house on the shores of Loch Ossian in the centre
of the ground ; there is a railway station close by,
probably the inevitable hotel will follow, while the
absolutely solitary hills and glens I knew so well
will sooner or later become the resort of the tourist
and the angler.

FOREST OF CUCHULLIN BY SLIGACHAN, ISLE OF SKYE.

This forest, belonging to Macleod of Macleod,
and rented at present by Mr. M. B. Byles, covers
some 35,000 acres, on which there is much high,
rocky and broken ground. It is, however, only a
forest in name, for, although the corries are splendid
and well suited for deer, the tourists from Sligachan
are all over the ground on their way to Loch
Coruisk, Scuir-na-Gillian and Corrie-na-Creiche, and

136 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

during the months of August and September the
ground is never quiet ; added to this, there are
also sheep on some parts, so that it may be easily
guessed that chances at deer are not plentiful, and
from four to five stags a season is the most to be
expected, and these, too, not very good ones.

This ground is more often called Glendrynoch
than the Cuchullin Forest, and poor as the stalking
may be, the other sport, in spite of the very wet
climate, is good ; for in addition to a fair bag of
grouse, black game and ptarmigan, a heavy score
of woodcocks and snipes can usually be made.

FOREST OF CULACHV.

This forest, of about 9,000 acres, marches with
that of Glendoe ; it has a small sanctuary, good
wintering woods, and the highest ground of 3,000
feet is reached on the summit of Corriearrick. When
the wind is right two rifles can go out, and thirty
stags a season is the usual kill. It has been occupied
by the present proprietor, Mr. M. K. Angelo, for the

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 137

past eighteen years, who has been both tenant and
owner, as he purchased the property when it reverted
to the Lovat estate on the death of Frazer of
Abertarf, who was a direct descendant of the well-
known Simon, Lord Lovat.

This is the only forest in Scotland where " cold "
deer are habitually killed by deerhounds, for out
of the thirty stags got in season 1895 nearly one
half were taken with dogs. The deer are some-
times approached with these hounds just in the
same way as if a "rifle" were making the stalk;
at other occasions, when the wind is favourable and the
deer hidden from sight, the hunter can trust to the
scent of the hounds, which is wonderfully keen ; as
they near the quarry, the dogs, straining at the leash,
are permitted to see where the deer are, and then
instantly made to lie down. It now requires no
small amount of skill with patience to slip the hound
at the desired stag, which cannot be done until he
separates himself sufficiently from the herd so as
to allow the dog to see him — and him only. A

T

138 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

good hound, once having had a view of his quarry,
will never change his stag, and it is marvellous to
see how truly they hold to the original beast they
have been slipped at, even though he may have
forced himself into the midst of a herd of other deer
in the hope of baffling pursuit.

These hounds of Mr. Angelo's, when used only
after wounded deer, soon learn to pick the wounded
one out of a herd, and as they possess the ability
to kill, are much quicker and more powerful than
trackers, collie or ordinary Scotch deerhounds, a
wounded beast is put out of his misery in less
time than would be required by the ordinary hound.
In this coursing of cold deer only one dog is
slipped, the other being let go as soon as it is seen
the first hound has gone right ; the second dog is then
sure to follow the first, and as they are not slipped
at deer in very unfavourable places, a good view of the
chase with the eventual kill can usually be obtained.
These hounds of Mr. Angelo's are the result of long
and careful breeding for power combined with speed.

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 139

In height and weight they far exceed the ordinary
Scotch deerhound, while retaining all the supple
activity of the breed. A Siberian sire and an
Irish wolfhound mother have given dogs — "Goth"
to wit — of thirty-four inches high at the shoulder,
weighing, when in running condition, 135 lbs., or nearly
ten stone. Although these dogs are of splendidly fierce
aspect, yet withal their manners are most gentle, until
slipped at a stag, and then their ferocity and courage
are truly remarkable. Mr. Angelo has also another
breed in " Bran II." from an Irish wolfhound dog in
the possession of Lord Caledon, from a mother of the
same species, which run up to thirty-two inches at
the shoulder and weigh 130 lbs. Now Scotch deer-
hounds have been bred to reach thirty inches, but
when so large they are rarely of any use in the
field ; twenty-eight or twenty-nine inches is their best
size, so therefore it can easily be imagined what an
advantage any dog would have when standing five
or six inches higher and yet possessing equal speed.
Mr. Angelo is likewise a great believer in the

I40 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

benefits to be derived by deer from feeding off fresh
pastures, and he has sub-divided his forest into five
portions. From No. i division the deer are excluded
and Highland cattle turned in ; the season following
these are replaced by sheep, and the cattle are put
on to No. 3 division ; then the sheep are removed
from No. i to No. 2, and the deer re-admitted to
No. I, and to this fresh pasture almost the whole
of the deer in the place will gather ; thus there
are successions of cattle, then sheep, then deer, on
each division of the forest. In addition to the benefit
to the deer, there is also by this method of manage-
ment a reduction of forest rent, as ground suited to
cattle and sheep fetches even yet a fair price.

During the extremely severe weather of January,
1895, Mr, Angelo noticed that very large numbers of
deer came into a hillside covered with thick whins,
and that not only did they shelter here, but they lived
on the whin bushes, which fact may perhaps give
a hint to those gentlemen in whose forests trees will
not thrive, for I believe the whin will prosper any-

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 141

where when once it has laid hold of the soil. In days
gone by the country people used to keep utensils and
implements specially for bruising and breaking up the
gathered whins, which their cattle then devoured
with avidity.

FORESTS OF DUNDREGGAN (tHE MEADOW OF

THE dragon), INVERWICK AND SOUTH CAENNOCROC

BY GLENMORISTON.

These three properties all belong to Mr. Grant
of Glenmoriston, and are let as one to Mr. J. G.
Bannatyne. The two first-named consist of 11,200
acres of forest and some 7,000 acres of grouse
ground and wood. South Caennocroc is about
12,000 acres of cleared ground, with a little over
3,000 acres of grouse ground. The forest marches
with Invermoriston, Inchnacardoch, Glenquoich, and
North Caennocroc. Part of the ground has been
for ages under deer, and indeed as regards this
particular portion there is no record that it has ever
been anything but deer forest. It will carry three

142 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

rifles ; the bag is made solely by stalking, and
averages sixty-five stags of about 15 stone, but
of how they are weighed I have no information.

FOREST OF ERCHLESS BY BEAULY.

A BEAUTIFULLY Situated but small Chisholm pro-
perty, of which some 8,000 acres are under deer.
On the north it marches with Scatwell Forest, on
the south with Urchany, on the east with sheep
ground, and on the west with Corriehallie. Erchless
— written also Erglass, Earghlas and Easterglass —
means in Gaelic " the grey valley," and here in his
castle, in 1689, the Chisholm of those days manfully
resisted a siege by his enemies, and it is of this
hero the story is told that on hearing some rival
chieftain spoken of with the prefix "the" attached
to his name, he proclaimed loudly and with in-
dignation that only three people in the world were
entitled to such distinction, namely, "the King, the
Pope, and the Chisholm."

JNVERNESS-SHIRE. 143

FOREST OF FARLEY AND URCHANY BY BEAULY.

This small forest of Lord Lovat's is let to Major
Paynter, and contains some 4,500 acres of open
moor and planted ground. It marches with Erchless
deer ground on the west, while in all other directions
a deer fence divides it from the low-lying grounds
adjoining. The kill is limited to 35 stags, which
average 16 stone clean.

FOREST OF FASNAKYLE OR FASNAKOIL BY BEAULY.

This is another of the Chisholm properties ajid
is let to Sir John Edwardes Moss. It covers about
31,000 acres of ground admirably suited to deer,
and marches with the forests of Glencannich, Affaric
and Knockfin. There is no regular sanctuary, but it
is usual to avoid one of the favourite hills for deer early
in the season, and in addition to this many of them
being fringed with birch wood for miles, also afford
good wintering ; it was in these very woods Prince
Charles Edward hid for three days when hard

144 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

pressed to escape from the royal troops at Fort
Augustus. There are several high hills, of which
the highest rises to 3,400 feet. As a rule, the forest
carries two rifles all through the season, though
towards the end of the time and in good wind a
third can be sent out. This forest has a history of
its own, as from 1880 to 1893 it formed one of
the Winans group, and on good authority I am
told that during all that time no shot was fired on
it, and that, as far as the actual killing of deer on
this ground was concerned, it had a twelve years'
jubilee, although probably the deer were at times
driven off it into Beauly forest, for Mr. Winans'
deer-drives ; thus many fine beasts were produced,
but, nevertheless, during all these twelve years
in-breeding was telling its tale, and for one good
stag that was reared, there were half-a-dozen poor
ones which never came to anything. In 1893,
when Mr. Winans gave it up, Mr. W. H. Walker
rented it, and got from one hundred to one
hundred and twenty of the best stags in the forest,

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 145

which was more than the ground would fairly
stand. Sir John took it for 1894, which was a
very late season in this forest, for on the 3rd of
October he saw a seven-pointer still in full velvet ;
in that season he was limited to seventy-five
stags, and having killed sixty-seven by the 27th
of September, he stopped on that date owing to
the beasts being then already far run. In 1895 up
to the 1 6th of September, Sir John had but fourteen
stags and but two real good ones in the lot. It
was in this district that that good sportsman, the
late Mr. Edward Ross, commenced his career as
deerstalker, when in 1854 he killed his first stag
in Glencannich. In those days none of the Chisholm
property was afforested, but beyond the head of
Loch Afifaric Mr. Ross on his first day out fell in
with some of the real big ones in a very steep and
wild corrie beyond Cralich, his first shot result-
ing in a splendid royal of 20 stones clean ; he
slept that night in a wooden bothy at Alt Beg,
and was out at dawn next day, when he again had

U

146 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

the good luck to fall in with this herd of "great
gentlemen " in some very rough broken ground, on
which in four shots he got four others of the herd,
two of which were also royals. Five shots and
five stags, three of which were monarchs, as may
well be supposed made a great impression on the
lad of seventeen, as indeed it ought !

THE FOREST OF GAICK, OR GAIG, OR GAWICK, BY

KINGUSSIE.

This forest, together with the others of the
Badenoch district, is of great antiquity, the whole
of them at one time having belonged to the Earls
of Huntly. Two hundred years ago that nobleman
owned Gaick, Glenfeshie, Glenavon, Glenmore, Drum-
ochter, Ben Alder, and the Loch Treig district
right up to Fort William, or some 220 square miles
of truly magnificent property. In those days none
of the forests were appropriated entirely to the
deer, for the tenants were allowed to put up shielings
on the edges of the deer grounds, and their cattle

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 147

could pasture where they listed all the day through,
on the strictest understanding that every beast
should be herded back to the shieling each even-
ing, and any that were left in the forest were
liable to be poinded, only to be recovered by the
payment of a smart fine, all of which regulations
worked very well in those days.

After 1745 the whole of the Badenoch forests
except Gaick were let as grazings, but this forest
the Duke of Gordon kept in his own hands as deer
ground until 1788, when it also was let as a sheep
walk, and so remained until 1826, when it was once
again placed under deer.

Gaick covers between twelve and thirteen thousand
acres of fine stalking ground, and now belongs to Sir
George Macpherson Grant of Ballindalloch, who
bought it in 1830 from the Duke of Gordon, and
as showing what a desirable forest this is, it may
be mentioned that since that time it has had but
five tenants. For the last twenty-one years it was
held by the late Colonel John Hargreaves, of Maiden

148 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Erlegh, that staunch friend and good sportsman, who
early in last October died at Glentromie Lodge, in
the country he loved so well, and Gaick is now
held by his sons. The other previous tenants have
been Sir Joseph Radcliffe, Captain Littledale, Lord
Lilford and Mr. Edwards Moss.

The forest lodge, of which a drawing is given, is
quite a unique building of the old days, which,
however, is to my mind more in keeping with its
wild rugged, surroundings than any more modern
or prettier style of architecture could be ; while
once inside a house of this sort the interior will
usually be found more solid, warm, and comfortable
than the present-day shooting box, for on entering
the hospitable doors of Gaick Lodge the scene
quickly changes, and it can be recognized at a
glance that the very thick walls must not only keep
the lodge warm, but offer sure protection from and
resistance to the fierce gales that periodically sweep
the valley with such force as to make even this
stout building rock, shake and quiver like a ship

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mVERNESS-SHIRE. 149

Struck by a big sea. Stern, white, angular and
uncompromisingly plain, Gaick forest lodge stands
out by itself against a background of peat, heather,
and green hill, towards which it turns its pallid
front. Near the back of the lodge is the sanctuary
of some two square miles on the shore of Loch-
an-t-Seillich, by some erroneously called Gaick Loch,
in which the natives vow there dwells a giant
species of fish called Dorman or Dormain ; powerful
fellows with very big heads, who, the legend says,
pass their lives in trying to hinder the salmon from
the Tromie from entering the loch, but in this they
are not always successful, for Mr. John Hargreaves
tells me he has caught salmon above the loch.
Facing the house, but further up the valley, are Loch
Vrotten and Loch-an-duin. At the back of the first-
named loch the Doune hill rises sharply from the
waterside to 1,000 feet, and has a remarkable appear-
ance, as it is somewhat in the shape of a house,
but there are many higher hills in Gaick, amongst
them " Stac-meall-na-Cuaich," " the hill of the cup,"

ISO THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

" Bogha-Cloiche," "stoneybow," and A Chioch, "the
pap," are each just about 3,000 ft. high.

The forest is divided by a natural conformation
of deep ravines into three distinct beats, north, east
and south ; of these the east is the best, and over
it Edward Ormiston, the head forester, most ably
presides, for no gentleman could wish a better,
bolder, more brilliant stalker, or pleasanter companion
on the hill. The south beat, when I was last at
Gaick, was well cared for by one " David," while
" Big John " did the honours of the north division,
and each of these men was above the average
of stalkers. Gaick is splendidly suited to deer,
being joined on all sides but one by other fine forests,
for on the west and south-west come the recently
cleared grounds, belonging to the Duke of Athol,
of Stronphadrig, South Dalnamein, and Glas Choire.
On the south-east. Glen Bruar and Atholl join in,
while Glenfeshie runs on the north, and this latter
forest divides Gaick from Mar by but a narrow slip
of land. The annual kill varies a good deal, according

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 151

to the wind that prevails during the stalking season,
and ranges from forty-five to sixty good stags, with
a mean weight of 14 stone 7 lbs., clean. During
the twenty years Colonel Hargreaves had Gaick he
killed just under a thousand stags, which makes an
average of a fraction of close upon fifty stags a season.
The worst winds for this forest are long spells of
south and south-easterly ones, while breezes that
continue to blow from north and north-west are the
best. The present lodge has been built nearly a
hundred years, and near it may still be seen the
ruins of old Gaick Lodge, which, being placed too
near the over-hanging brow of the steep hill on
the left of the illustration, was in 1800 destroyed
by an avalanche, by which Captain John Macpherson
of Balachroan, together with his four attendants and
some deerhounds, were all killed, for they had most
unfortunately sheltered in the house only that very
night in order to avoid the fury of a hill snow-
storm in which they had been overtaken when out
in pursuit of the hinds. The body of Captain

152 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Macpherson was found lying face downwards on
his bed, but so great was the force of the rush of
snow and stones that it not only laid the house low,
but carried the bodies of the four servants to a
considerable distance from the ruins. About half
way up the steep ravine, called the Gairb Gaick,
which divides the south from the east beat, a track
called Comyn's road runs into it at right angles,
and at this spot, somewhere about 1390, Walter
Comyn of Badenoch, a descendant of " The Wolf,"
met with his death. Tradition has it that this
Walter, who inherited all the fierce tyrannous nature
of his ancestor, Buchan the Wolf of Badenoch, had
commanded a number of his farm girls to appear,
clad in nothing warmer than the garb of mother
Eve, at one of his farms at Ruthven, where they
were to reap a field of corn. On the day fixed
for the carrying out of this infamous project, Walter
Comyn started on horseback to travel through Gaick
to reach Ruthven, where he was to witness this
outrage on maiden modesty, but his advent was

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 153

represented only by his horse, which arrived bathed
in blood, while from a stirrup there hung one of
Comyn's legs still in its boot. A search was at
once made, and his body was discovered at the spot
where this ancient track descends sharply into the
Gairb-Gaick ravine, and seated on it and busily
engaged in tearing it to pieces were two large eagles ;
and though there is nothing surprising in these birds
making a meal from a dead body, yet the country
folk, one and all, agreed that they were two of
the mothers of two of the girls who were to have
reaped the corn, and that magic power had been
granted them to assume eagle shapes on purpose
to attack Comyn, and defeat the accomplishment
of his barbarous design, while to this day the fate
of Walter is yet proverbial amongst the Highlanders,
for when any of them are much incensed, without
the means of revenge, it is not uncommon to hear
them utter, " May the fate of Walter in Gaick
overtake you." At the time of the avalanche there
was an idea then prevalent, which is even now not

X

154 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

entirely exploded, that babies could not come into
the world unless the mother had plenty of whisky,
and at the time of this catastrophe one of the Gaick
foresters was returning from the purchase of a cargo
of whisky (carried ozUside him) for his wife when
he met the party in search of Captain Macpherson,
and having joined them, it is almost needless to say
the whisky did not reach the wife. The baby was,
however, born all right, and without the help of spirits,
was duly named Donald Macpherson, and lived to
become head forester in Caennocroc, where he died
not so very long ago, for he lived to a great age.

Stories of witches and fairies are rife in every
forest, and indeed for that matter all over Scotland,
Gaick being no exception to the rule, and the follow-
ing two may serve as specimens for this forest and all
the others : — A noted deerstalker was out early one
morning in the forest, and observing some deer at
a distance got near them, but without being quite
within shot ; on taking a peep at them over a
knowe, he was astonished to see a number of tiny

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 155

women, dressed in green, milking the hinds, one of
whom had a hank of green worsted thrown over her
shoulder, at which, while she was milking, the hind
made a grab and swallowed it. The fairy in a rage
struck the hind with the leather band which she had
been using to tie its hind legs during the milking,
calling out at the same time : " May a dart from
Murdoch's quiver pierce your side before night."
Now Murdoch was no other than the silent witness of
this scene, and, fearing to be detected, he turned the
other way and departed to seek venison elsewhere.
Later on in the same day he killed a hind, in which,
when he gralloched her, he found the identical hank
he had seen the deer swallow in the morning. On
another occasion this same Murdoch, who appears to
have been somewhat favoured by the fairies, had got
within shot of a hind on the Doune Hill, and as he took
aim he saw it was a young woman, and not a hind,
that stood before him. He at once lowered his
weapon, when immediately the thing was once more
a deer, and this happened several times. When, how-

156 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

ever, the sun set, he again took aim, and on firing
the object fell dead in the actual shape of a deer.
Murdoch being then suddenly overpowered by sleep,
laid down in the heather to rest, when in a few
minutes a voice thundered in his ear : " Murdoch,
Murdoch, you have this day slain the only maid
of the Doune ! " and, jumping up, he retorted :
"If I have killed her, you may eat her!" while
he at once bolted off as fast as his legs would
carry him. In the present prosaic days this story
sounds uncommonly as if stalker Murdoch had a
weakness for the whiskey bottle, but be that as it
may, his successors claim that the celebrated Mr.
Sheridan was descended from one of Murdoch's
daughters. Another commonly prevalent supersti-
tion was the belief in a Leannan Stieth or fairy
sweetheart, and all those stalkers who passed their
days and nights in the forest were credited with such
a connection, from which the earthly wife was ever
supposed to be in great danger on account of the evil
wishes and designs of the fairy one.

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 157

Glentromie Lodge, about eight miles from Gaick,
and only three from Kingussie, is usually let with the
forest, and with this there goes some 11,000 acres
of most excellent grouse shooting, the two places
combined making one of the best of the many fine
sporting estates of Scotland.

FOREST OF GLENCANNICH BY BEAULY.

This is one of the Chisholm forests, of which I
regret having no particular information. On the
north it marches with Monar and Braulen, on the
west with Attadale and Patt, on the south with
Benula and Fasnakyle, and sheep ground bounds
it on the east. The glens of Affaric and Cannich
are both very steep and narrow, and Longart at
the head of Glencannich is perhaps the wettest
place in all Scotland, and for this reason the river
Glass, a tributary of the Beauly, is subject to most
violently sudden floods from heavy rains or melting
snow, which renders any cultivation of the low-
lying lands on the banks of the river not only

ts8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

most unprofitable, but nearly impossible, while the
washing away of roads and bridges is a common
occurrence.

FOREST OF GLENDOE BY FORT AUGUSTUS.

This good forest, formed in 1877, belongs to
Lord Lovat, is rented by Colonel A. H. Charlesworth,
and consists of some 18,000 acres of fine deer
ground, of which the west beat is very steep and
rocky, while that to the east is fine open undulating
hill. Murligan wood, sloping to the shores of
Lochness, affords splendid wintering, while the loch
itself forms a good water march on the north of
the forest. On the west Mr. Angelo's deer ground
to Culachy comes in, while on the other side it joins
the sheep grounds of Killin shootings, and one of
Sir J. Ramsden's moors. The highest hills are
Carn-na-hullin and Meal-na-caca, from which latter
hillside issue springs nearly as potent as those of
Hunyady, and hence the Gaelic name, which is not
translatable to ears polite. In the middle beat is

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 159

a sanctuary of considerable extent, zealously looked
after by Rory Chisholm, the head forester. The
usual kill is from forty to forty-five stags, which
average the fine weight of 15 stones 6 lbs. clean.
During the life time of Mr. Edward Ross, he and
the present Lord Lovat shared this forest between
them, and one day when stalking together they
approached a stag in Corrie Arrick on a side wind,
when, having got to about three hundred yards from
their quarry, the beast laid down, and they had to
wait on him ; suddenly the deer sprang up to
bolt full tilt towards them, a proceeding which
was followed by bang ! bang ! from the opposite
side of the corrie, while two bullets smacked on the
rocks not very far above the heads of the lawful
stalkers. The poacher had clean missed his stag,
which came galloping full tilt past Lord Lovat, who
killed him dead, and after running up to cut the
throat, but without waiting to perform the gralloch,
the whole party dashed off in pursuit of this daring
fellow, but Lord Lovat's shot had of course given

i6o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

him warning, so what with the good start he
thus got and aided by the broken nature of the
ground, the would-be deer-slayer managed to escape
scot-free. In this forest Mr. Edward Ross made
a remarkable piece of good shooting at a fourteen-
pointer, who after a difficult stalk got wind of
the party when they were some 1 50 yards distant ;
off he galloped best pace, and when at about
180 yards Mr. Ross sent in his first bullet, the
"smack" of which could be heard as it struck the
stag, who, however, did not stop, but turned end on,
giving no further chance till about 250 yards off,
when an opening at length presenting itself Mr.
Ross fired again, and the stag fell dead. On
reaching the spot, it was seen that the first bullet
had passed through the heart, while the second one
had almost exactly followed the same line, for the
two bullet-holes were not an inch apart.

Old Murdoch, who was forester in Glendoe until
old age forced him to retire from active service,
relates a pretty story of the kind-heartedness of the

INVERNESS-SHIRE. i6i

late Lord Lovat. One day when out stalking, and
being near to Murdoch's hill-bothy, he went in, as
was his wont, to have a chat, when, whilst sitting
at the open door, there appeared a very fine stag
feeding over the sky-line not 300 yards distant. Lord
Lovat sprang to his feet to seize his rifle whilst
saying to Murdoch, " Look at that splendid stag !
It is more than a royal." To this the veteran replied,
"Yes, my lord; he is just a grand fourtecn-pointer,
and o'er yon knoll he comes most days about this
hour, until at last I've learnt to look for him and treat
him as a friend." On hearing these words Lord
Lovat at once laid aside his rifle, simply saying,
•' Well, Murdoch, it will never be levelled against any
friend of yours ; " and thus to please his old servant he
denied himself a chance such as few deerstalkers
would have been able to resist.

During the occupation of Fort Augustus by the
Duke of Cumberland's army, the hills of this forest were
silent witnesses of many cruelly savage reprisals on
the Highlanders by the royal soldiers. Indeed, the

l6a THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

whole immediate district around Kil Chuimein, or the
present Fort Augustus, became but one hundred
and fifty years ago the scene of atrocities which, if
historians are to be beheved, nearly equalled those
Armenian horrors against which all civilized Europe
is at present indignantly protesting.

FOREST OF GLENFESHIE BY KINGUSSIE.

This most excellent forest, so seldom in the market,
belongs jointly to The Mackintosh and Sir George
Macpherson Grant of Ballindalloch ; this last-named
gentleman owns the larger portion, but unless the
two properties are let as one, Glenfeshie would not
be the good forest it is. Mr. Macpherson of
Ballindalloch purchased his part of the forest in
1812 from the Duke of Gordon. For the past
four seasons it has been rented by the Baron J. W.
H. Schroder, and covers some 38,000 acres, in which
however is included about 12,000 acres of grouse
and low ground shooting. More than two parties
are never sent to the forest, which is essentially

INVERNESS-SHIRE. ,63

a Stag ground, the number of hinds being com-
paratively small, as they prefer the lower lands
of Mar, Atholl, Gaick and Glenbruar, which almost
surround Glenfeshie. The late Mr. Ellice was here
the introducer of the well-known "Glenfeshie Mix-
ture," a shepherd's plaid with a large red check
running through it, which, though here not now
much used, still remains a favourite cloth in the
adjoining forest of Invereshie, while later on, when
Mr. Ellice bought Glengarry, it became the standard
pattern for that ground also. The stalking is not
difficult, as, although many of the hills are high and
exceed 3,000 ft., the stags are more often found
round the bases than on the tops of these very tall
ranges. Brae Riach, "the brindled top," an admir-
able description, is 4,248 ft; Monadh Mor, "big
mountain," 3,651 ft.; Meall Tionail, "the gathering
hill," 3.338 ft.; and Carn Ban, "the pale cairn,"
3,445 ft., while there are many others nearly as high.
At the present time the season's kill is between
105 and no stags, weighed with heart and liver

l64 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

included, while for the past four years they have
averaged about 14 stone, although every care has
been taken not to kill small beasts. The present
lessee attributes this shortness of weight to two
causes : first, the grazing is not so good as could
be wished ; and, secondly, owing to the small
number of hinds, all the best stags desert the
forest as soon as the rut commences, to make for
the adjacent ones, in which the bulk of the hinds
are quartered. Since Baron Schroder has had Glen-
feshie, his best season was in 1893, when he got
several fine stags of from 19 to 16 stone, one of
which had a splendid head of thirteen points, with
a span of 34 inches inside and 38 inches outside
measurement.

Since 1892 there has been a beautiful white hart
in this forest, which has grown into a fine beast with
a good head, but up to July, '95, he had not made
his re-appearance, albeit the Baron has no doubt of
seeing him again, as he has the assurance of all his
neighbours that they will not touch him. In a case

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 165

like this it would almost make the enthusiast wish that
the old law of death to the poacher, of Henry III. and
even later monarchs, should be revived in favour of
this beautiful creature. Before Baron Schroder ruled
in Glenfeshie, Sir Charles Mordaunt had it for
fourteen years, and I can testify to the many splendid
trophies from this forest that adorn the walls of
Walton Hall, Sir Charles' house in Warwickshire.
In a letter to me Sir Charles describes Glenfeshie
as "a perfect place for all-round sport," and states
that to him it will ever remain " I lie terrarum mihi
praeter omnes angulus ridet," which is a pretty use of
a quotation that also shows Sir Charles has not
forgotten his Horace.

In this forest Landseer painted many pictures,
being especially fond of studying the deerhounds bred
by old Malcolm Clark the Fox-hunter. At one period
there were two sets of huts in the glen, in one of
which, on the Mackintosh portion, Landseer painted a
group of deer with a suspicious hind on the plaster
above the fireplace; but as the huts came to be

i66 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

disused, this chalk drawing was left exposed to the
damp, and though the remains of it are still to be seen,
they are in a very dilapidated condition. The other of
these huts was for a long time occupied by Georgina,
Duchess of Bedford, who was greatly attached to the
place, and so much so that when the Mackintosh
proposed to sell some of the pine wood, she purchased
most of the finest trees, and her mark, consisting of
a tablet with her coronet and initials, may still be
seen identifying some of them, although, horrible to
relate, many of these badges have been removed by
tourist visitors to the glen.

Landseer's well-known pictures of " Waiting for the
Deer to Rise" and "Stealing a March" are both
scenes in Glenfeshie, and the former contains the
three portraits of Captain Horatio Ross, Charles
Mackintosh, the stalker, and a then well-known
character in Badenoch, one Malcolm Clark, commonly
called Callum Brocair — "Malcolm the Fox-hunter" —
who is drawn holding the nose of a deerhound.

The following story of this man's great strength

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 167

is Still often spoken of in the district : — Captain Ross
and Clark had followed a herd of deer on to Cairn
Toul, where they put them into a precipitous hollow
above Lochan Uaine, from which they could only make
good their escape by ascending the steep face very
slowly. As the stags came into shot, they fell one by
one, until five had bitten the dust, when the firing was
brought to a standstill, because, in the heat and hurry
of loading, a bullet was rammed down the rifle barrel
before the powder had been put in. On examining
the slain. Captain Ross was so pleased with one of
them that he turned to Clark, saying, " I would
give twenty pounds to see this stag taken home
whole." Clark replied that it should not cost the
Captain that sum, so, bending down, with the help
of his master the big stag was hoisted on to his
shoulders, which he then carried to such a place as a
pony could come to, when the stag was put in the
saddle, eventually to be laid out later in the presence
of the Duchess of Bedford, on the green in front
of the Doune House, at Rothiemurcus. This deer

i68 THE DEER FORESIS OF SCOTLAND.

scaled i8 stone, and the other four were all brought
to the pony in halves !

FOREST OF GLENGARRY.

This nice forest of 17,730 acres is the property
of Mrs. Ellice, whose husband, for over forty years
the well-known member for the St. Andrew's Burghs,
purchased it from the late Lord Dudley, in 1862, for
;^ 1 20,000, the then Lord Ward having previously
purchased it from the Marquis of Huntly for ;^9 1,000,
the Marquis being the first "stranger" owner of
the estate after Macdonnell of Glengarry was forced
to part with his hereditary property. It was afforested
in 1866, and the whole ground is admirably suited
to deer. Much of it is high rocky heights,
Coire Ghlais and Ben Tee each being 3,000 feet, while
large quantities of sheltering woods run along the
shores of Lochs Lochy and Garry, out of which
latter lake flows the Garry, so famed for its early
spring salmon fishing, which is perhaps the best in
Scotland. Loch Garry also bounds this forest on the

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 169

north, while Loch Lochy is another water march on
the east, the sheep-ground of Lochiel surrounding it
on south and west. There is a small sanctuary rising
from the shore of Loch Lochy, which is taken good
care of by John McLennan, the head forester. The
best-coloured cloth is the Ellice plaid, a black and
white check with large red squares running through
the web. The ground carries two rifles comfortably,
and though, when it is found necessary to push the
stags out of the dense woods on the edges of the
forest, an occasional drive is perforce resorted to,
the bulk of the deer are killed by stalking. The
usual kill is forty-five stags, averaging 14 stone,
clean.

When Mr. Ellice purchased this property he built
a good house on Loch Oich, which Mrs. Ellice retains
in her own hands, together with the forest, and keeps
up all the many hospitable kind usages of her late
husband. From Invergarry House the forest is
easily accessible, as carriage roads and pony tracks
have been laid out for this special purpose. On the

z

I70 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

shores of the north end of Loch Lochy was fought,
in 1544, the celebrated battle of Blar-nan-leine, or
"The Field of Shirts," in which Lord Lovat and
his eldest son, together with three hundred Frasers,
were routed and slain by the Clanronald. That
day, the 3rd of July, being unusually hot, both
sides stripped to their shirts before commencing
the fray, in which five hundred of the Clanronald
men were faced by but three hundred of the Frasers,
tradition relating that only four of the Frasers with ten
of the Clanronald survived the contest, while had it
not been that later on eighty of the wives of eighty
of the slain men presented eighty fatherless sons to
the clan Fraser, there would have been great danger
of the total annihilation of this old sept.

FOREST OF GLENMORE BY AVIEMORE.

This nice forest, formed in 1859, and covering
some 15,000 acres, is the property of the Duke of
Richmond and Gordon, by whom it is at present let
to the Earl of Zetland. On three sides it joins other

INVERNESS-SHIRE.

171

forests, while on the fourth the deer are fenced off the
low-lying lands ; it touches Abernethy on the north,
Rothiemurcus on the south, and Glenavon on the
west. There is a sanctuary of some 2,000 acres, with
about an equal portion of very old fir wood, in which
not only the stags of Glenmore, but also large
numbers from the surrounding forests, pass the
winter. In the centre of the wood lies Loch Mor-
lich, on the bank of which stands a very large fir
tree, for many years used as a nesting-place by the
ospreys. Their last appearance was in 1893, when,
in spite of all precautions, they appear to have been
wantonly disturbed, and since then they have not
again visited Loch Morlich. Most of the ground is
very high and wild, as may well be supposed, when
the highest hill is the well-known Cairn-gorm, of
4,084 ft. The ground carries two rifles, and should
yield 50 stags each season, but of late years this
number has not been obtained, only because the
ground has been lightly shot and not from any scarcity
of deer, for the present lessee, the Earl of Zetland, is

172 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

as much devoted to fishing as to all other sport, as
is witnessed this autumn of '95 by his capture of a
54 lb. salmon from the Tay early in October — a time
which is just the very best for the hill. Fifty-four-
pounders are, however, extremely rare, and there are
but few deerstalkers who are also anglers who would
not prefer to kill a monster to the rod in preference
to "a real big one" with the rifle.

Tradition says that the forest of Glenmore is
haunted by a fairy knight known as Lhamdearg,
or " Red Hand," but, as his last authenticated
appearance was in 1669, it is more than likely that

something has happed to the knight, or that the
whiskey of the district is less potent, and belated
stalkers can return home in the dark fearlessly.

FOREST OF GLENQUOICH BY INVERGARRY.

Like Glengarry, this famous forest, of 46,347
acres, also belongs to Mrs. Ellice. The two
estates are contiguous, the whole at one time
forming the ancient possessions of the Macdonnells

LWERNESS-SHIRE. 173

of Glengarry. For the past twenty-five years
this forest has been rented by Lord Burton, and at
his hands it has had careful nursing, with all the
benefits and advantages of large outlays in numerous
improvements, for even in the single matter of roads
alone upwards of a hundred and thirty miles of
carriage drives and pony tracks have been made, by
which means the lodge on the shore of Loch Quoich
has been placed in communication with all parts of the
deer ground. The bulk of the lands of Glenquoich are
very high and extremely steep, the bases of the hills
being well covered with rich pastures. The very
highest ground is reached on the summit of Glourvach
(3,396 ft.) at the back of the lodge, while there
are upwards of a dozen other hills over 3,000 ft.

Glenquoich marches on the west with the deer
grounds of Loch Hourn, while on the north-west and
north it runs with Clunie Forest, Glengarry comes in
on the east, and Glen Kingie on the south. This
last-mentioned property, of nearly 16,000 acres, belongs
to Lochiel, being quite a good forest in itself; Lord

174 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Burton rents it to join it on to Glenquoich, and it
was on these lands that he killed the famous twenty-
pointer of 1893. At the back of Glenquoich Lodge
is a sanctuary of several thousand acres, together with
a few hundred acres of plantations, while in sheltered
situations in other parts of the forest are numerous
detached woods of natural birch. The greater part
of these lands have been frequented by deer from time
immemorial, but until about fifty years ago Eastern
Glenquoich was not actually cleared, while later on in
1878 the western portion followed.

James Henderson fills the place of head forester to
the satisfaction of all, while stalkers and gillies are
uniformly clad in a neat brownish check, which
experience has proved to be the most suitable for the
ground. Three rifles, who are expected to kill all
deer by fair stalking, can take the hill daily, and though
no limit as to number is imposed on Lord Burton, and
though more deer could doubtlessly be got, he contents
himself with a modest annual kill of one hundred good
beasts, which for many years past have maintained the

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 175

fine average weight of 1 5 stone clean. On the walls of
Glenquoich is displayed as fine a collection of modern
horns as can be seen in all Scotland, some distin-
guished for their great span, others for their uncommon
massiveness, and again there are those with exception-
ally long and graceful points. Here hang royals
in plenty, a fair lot of fourteen-pointers, a few of
sixteen, and one — the king of the whole collection —
has twenty tines. This last-mentioned head Lord
Burton laid low in 1893, ii^ ^ somewhat curious way.
Early in that season, and before stalking had fully
commenced, he and a party were crossing the hills
from Glenquoich to Loch Nevis, when coming suddenly
on a company of stags, and seeing that there was
no way of getting round them, or of approaching
nearer without abandoning the trip to Loch Nevis,
Lord Burton, who had his rifle with him, determined
to try a long shot at fully three hundred yards, and
dropped the stag dead, whereupon a gillie was sent
off to do the gralloch, while the party resuming their
route, it was not till he arrived home that Lord Burton

176 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

knew he had got a head the like of which has, perhaps,
never before been seen in Scotland. The Honble.
Nellie Bass and Mr. Baillie of Dochfour were both
witnesses of this good shot, and when they were
married, the people of Glenquoich and Glengarry gave
them as an appropriate wedding present the head and
figure of the great stag most correctly modelled
in silver.

When the Macdonnells owned this fine tract of
wild country for over two hundred years, it was the
scene of incessant bloodshed and strife ; for the Clan
Ranald and the Clan Mackenzie of Kintail were ever
at loggerheads, and neither appears to have had
sufficient preponderating force to deal to the other
a death-blow. That the Macdonnells were entitled to
be proud of their sept is quite certain, for, after the
Campbells, they were the most numerous and powerful
of all the others, and so greatly was this fact impressed
on one ancient chieftain of Glengarry, that on an
occasion when he unexpectedly arrived at a feast
given by a neighbour, apologies were made to him

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 177

that he had not been placed at the head of the
table, and to these his answer was, "No matter —
wherever Glengarry sits, that is the head of the
table." An assertion of " I am cock of the walk,"
which was allowed to pass unchallenged.

From time immemorial the Macdonnells were a
hunting and a fighting race. They joined Montrose,
and were "out" in 1715 and 1745. The last of
the clan who ruled at Glengarry was Col. Alexander
Macdonnell, who adhered strictly to the dress and
mode of living of his ancestors ; he was a typical
Highland chief, and as Fergus Maclvor he figures in
" Waverley." His son, finding his estate hopelessly
encumbered, sold it to the Marquis of Huntly, and
he and his family, together with a large number
of the clan, emigrated to Australia.

FOREST OF GUISACHAN.

This forest, which is about twenty-two miles from
Beauly, covers some 16,000 acres, and belongs to
Lord Tweedmouth. It disputes with Glen Urquhart

2 A

178 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

and Assynt for the honour of the death of the last
wolf destroyed in Scotland, which was in 1743. Of
the kill of stags or their weights I have been unable
to obtain authentic information ; but as a further
instance of how stags ramble and roam, it can be
stated that Lord Tweedmouth shot a stag in this
forest the morning after it had been stalked at
Beauly, a distance of fully twenty-two miles as the
crow flies.

FOREST OF INCHNACARDOCH AND PORTCLAIR
BY FORT AUGUSTUS.

This is a very easily-walked forest of Lord Lovat's,
formed in 1870, and now let to Col. Charlesworth.
It covers about 15,000 acres of rolling slopes, some-
what like exaggerated Sussex downs, the highest
ground being 1,800 feet. It is bounded on the
south by Loch Ness, whose wooded shores give
splendid wintering ; on north and east it marches
with Glenmoriston, while Inverwick (also called
Dundreggan) meets it on the west. Th^ kill is

INVERNESS-SHTRE. 179

limited to forty-five stags, which average about
14 stone 8 lbs., clean.

FOREST OF INVERESHIE, OR SOUTH KINRARA, OR
INCHRIACH, BY KINGUSSIE.

Tins small forest, rented, together with the grouse
and low ground shootings, by Mr. Heywood Lonsdale,
belongs partly to The Mackintosh and partly to Sir
George Macpherson Grant of Ballindalloch, and
unless the two grounds go together — when united
they make some 9,000 acres — neither would be
of much use as deer forest, although when joined,
as they are at present, they yield an average kill
of twenty-five stags a season, with a mean weight
of 14 stone, clean. Invereshie marches with the
forest of Glenfeshie on the south, and with that
of Rothiemurcus on the east and north-east ; there
is no sanctuary, but abundance of old natural wood
and thick juniper for wintering. The hills are high,
somewhat peaked, and with stony tops. Sgorr-an-
dubh, the "black peak," is 3,635 feet, and Sgorr

i8o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Gavith, the "windy peak," is 3,358 feet. The cloth
called Glenfeshie mixture, already described, is chielly
used, and suits the ground exactly, which will carry
one rille comfortably. The first tenants of Invershie
were Mr. Farquharson of Finzean and Mr. Barclay
of Urie, the former gentleman once killing with one
dog and a flint gun seventy-five brace of grouse in
the day !

FOREST OF INVERMORISTON BY GLENMORISTON.

This ground, of 10,700 acres of good stalking,
belongs to Mr. J. M. Grant of Glenmoriston.
Glen-mhor-essan, " the glen of the great falls,"
has been cleared for many years, carries two
rifles, and is at present rented by Captam A.
H. O. Dunnistane, and to him and his friends it
gives from twenty-five to thirty stags each season,
which work out, taking one with the other, just
under 15 stone, but how weighed I have not been
able to ascertain. As a rule, several royals are got

INVERNESS-SHIRE. l8i

each year, and the walls of Invermoriston House
show heads running up to seventeen points.

It was mainly owing to the true aim of a Glen-
moriston man that the Highlanders charged with
such confident fury at Killiecrankie ; for just before
the battle began Lochiel, who was supposed to have
the gift of foretelling events, was questioned as to what
he thought of their chances. " That side will win
who first spills blood," answered he ; and on hearing
that prophecy Iain a Chragain turned to a noted
Glenmoriston deerstalker, shouting to him, " Do
you hear that ? Do you hear that ? " while pointing
out an officer of General Mackay's, who, mounted
on a white horse, had rashly galloped out of his
lines to survey the scene of the forthcoming battle.
The stalker instantly firing, the gentleman fell
from his horse shot through the heart, while on
seeing this happy omen the hillmen with exulting
shouts rushed to the fray.

There have always been deer in Invermoriston,
as is proved by the name of the mountain stretch

i82 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

lying between Affaric and Corrie Dho in Glen-
moriston, which for centuries has been called " Tigh-
Mor-no-Seilg," " the great house of the hunting."
In 1746 Glenmoriston House, with every cottage
near by, was destroyed by the Duke of Cumberland's
orders, a proceeding which forced the numerous
Highlanders of those parts to seek safety on the
hill-sides. Amongst these was Patrick Grant, together
with three of the Chisholms, two of the Macdonalds,
and a Macgregor. These " seven men of Glen-
moriston " fled to the hills, binding themselves
together by a solemn oath never to yield to the
English, but to stand by each other to the last
drop of their blood. They were all strong, active
men, and making their home in the Cave of
Uamh Ruaraidh na Seilg, " the Cave of Roderick
the Hunter," in Corrie-Sgrainge, they commenced
to lead a life of adventure, losing no chance
of harming any small parties of soldiers or Whig
Highlanders. They pillaged convoys, shooting the
guards, and in carrying off the proceeds they

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 183

murdered one Robert Grant, a Strathspey man,
whose head they fixed on a tree close to the high road
at Blairie, where it stayed until well on in the
present century. When Prince Charles Edward
escaped from the Western Isles, to commence
his wanderings on the mainland, he was forced to
seek shelter in Glenmoriston, and had to place
himself in the hands of these seven men, who
entertained him to the best of their ability, and after
binding themselves by a great oath to stand by
the Prince until he was out of danger, asked that
" their backs might be to God and their faces to
the Devil " if they did discover to man, woman or
child that the Prince was in their keeping. This
oath they observed so well that not until a whole
year after the escape of Charles to France was
it so much as known he had been amongst them.

FOREST OF KINVEACHV BY BOAT OF GARTEN.

This is one of the Countess Dowager of Seafield's
properties, at present let to Sir Spencer Mary on

184 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Wilson, being entirely surrounded by the grouse moors
and sheep grounds of the Duke of Richmond. It was
first cleared in 1875, the highest point of the 11,000
acres of which it consists being reached at the
summit of Carn-sleam-huinn, 2217 feet, while of the
total area no less than one-third is thick wood,
offering a vast dense shelter to the deer. Two
rifles can go out, who should kill twenty stags a
season, which will average 14 stone, with heart
and liver included. In the season of 1891 the
present tenant had the good fortune to secure one
of the best beasts shot in Kinveachy in recent years,
a heavy stag with fourteen good points.

FOREST OF KNOYDART BY ISLE ORNSAY.

This estate is of surpassing wildness and beauty,
being full of steep, narrow glens, with high hills
peaked, jagged, and fantastic in outline, with their
tops nearly sterile. Sgur-na-liche is the highest
ground and rises to 3,610 feet, but there are
five more hills of over 3,000 feet, and twenty-

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 185

one that exceed 2,000 feet, while as a good part
of this ground is sea-girt, with the hills close to and
rising abruptly from the salt water, it can easily
be imagined the walking is severe, while even the
most "hardy brogues" soon wear out during a
month's stalking here. At one time, for more than
two centuries, Knoydart was the property of the
Macdonnells of Glengarry ; the late Mr. James
Baird bought it in 1857, and was succeeded by his
nephew, Mr. John Baird, in 1876, with whom it was
once my good fortune to stay at Inverie House to
stalk over these romantic hills. In 1893 my friend
sold Knoydart to Mr. E. S. Bowlby, of Gilston Park,
Hertfordshire, and each of these three proprietors
spent largely on the place. There are some 50,000
acres under deer, with a fine house at Inverie, on
Loch Nevis, and a good lodge at Barrisdale, but
it is from Inverie House that the bulk of the stalking
is done. The present owner limits his kill to one
hundred stags, which average 15 stone clean, but
in the season of 1894 he contented himself with just

2 B

1 86 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

over half this number, as the severe winter destroyed
many good beasts, no less than thirty-eight having
been found dead, and of course all the carcases
were not discovered ; of these fifty stags shot in '94,
five were royals, nine had eleven points, and twenty-
one had ten. Knoydart marches on the land side
with Glenquoich and North Morar, having, in addi-
tion to a small sanctuary, some useful woods for
wintering. From the earliest days of the Mac-
donnells Knoydart has seen a great deal of clan
warfare. In 1643 Alexander Macdonald, (the cele-
brated Colkitto of John Milton), a Highland relation
of the Earl of Antrim, landed in Knoydart with
a force of Irish for the assistance of Montrose,
and joining him, they shared in all his victories and
formed part of his troops when the Marquis made
that remarkable forced march over the snow-clad
hills between Fort Augustus and Ben Nevis, which
the day following led to the surprise and nearly
total annihilation of Argyll's army at Inverlochy.
The last bloodshed that took place in Knoydart was

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 187

in 1745, when an officer of the King's forces, in
command of a detachment of soldiers pursuing the
fugitives from Culloden, sought shelter from the fury
of a storm in a lonely hut in Knoydart. Only the
woman of the house and her infant were at home,
and the child beginning to cry, the officer exclaimed,
"Curse that child! If it lives it will only grow up
to be a rebel like its father;" on hearing this, the
sergeant of the party at once passed his sword through
the child, the distracted mother being a witness of
the brutal deed. When the storm subsided the
soldiers departed, with their officer mounted on a
white horse, but he, fearing pursuit and vengeance
from the father of the murdered child, shortly
after starting dismounted and proceeded on foot,
in the meanwhile placing on his own horse a prisoner
he was taking to Fort William. That which this
gallant officer feared shortly happened, for the out-
raged father, who had fled to the hills at the
approach of the soldiers, returned home as soon
as they had departed, and vowing vengeance, he

i88 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

pursued them until he headed the detachment, when,
as they came up to him, he at once shot the rider
of the white horse dead. He saw his mistake too
late, but escaping scot-free, he again came up with
his persecutors, when the officer, thinking that all
was safe, having resumed his horse, also paid the
penalty of his cruelty, and the injured father once
more escaped.

In the time of the Armada one of the Spanish
ships was wrecked on the Knoydart shores, and to
this day there are a race of Catholics settled there,
who show all those well-marked peculiarities of
feature which belong to the Spanish race.

FOREST OF MACDONALD, OR SCONSER, BROADFORD.

This is an ancient forest of nearly 10,000 acres,
belonging to Lord Macdonald, and at present let
to Mr. A. H. Sharp, in whose rental is included
the wages of four keepers, all rates and taxes, and
the up-keep of the lodge. It is mostly rough, bare,
black, moorland ground, cut up by precipitously rocky

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 189

hills, of which the highest is 2,600 ft. It is bounded
on the north by Loch Sligachan, on the east by
the Sound of Raasay and Loch Ainort, and on
the west by Macleod of Macleod's ground of Glen
Drynoch. There are no crofters on this property,
but the tourists are very troublesome, keeping the
deer constantly on the move, and spoiling many
stalks, so much so that the average kill is but
twelve stags a season. Deer are said to swim to
and from the Island of Skye to the mainland across
Loch Alsh, and also even to come from Applecross
in Ross-shire, swimming first to Raasay and from
thence to Skye. This property has been in the hands
of the Macdonalds of Sleat for several centuries, and
although there have been other claimants to the proud
title of " Macdonald of the Isles," the honour rests at
this day with the present owner of Sconser. From
towards the end of the year 1590 numerous were
the clan warfares these Macdonalds took part in,
especially with the Macleans of Dowart, and in
1 591 each of these chieftains was condemned to

igo THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

pay a fine of ;^4,ooo to the king, as a pledge that
they would keep the peace, but the penalties were
shortly forgotten, and a year later the Macdonalds
and their neighbours, the Macleods, fought a desperate
battle on the hill of Benquillin, when the latter clan
was nearly cut to pieces. The Macdonalds joined
Montrose, and were "out" in both 1715 and 1745;
and the then chief was the first to commence the
battle of Sherrifmuir ; they likewise did much to
protect and shelter Prince Charlie, when he arrived
at Mugstot, in the north of Skye, the residence
of Sir Alexander Macdonald, after a perilous voyage
from Benbecula, disguised as Betty Burke, the Irish
maid-servant of the celebrated Flora Macdonald.

FOREST OF MAMORE, OR KINLOCHMORE, BY ONICH,

A FOREST celebrated for the size of the horns and
weight of its deer, belonging to Mrs. Cameron
Campbell of Monzie, by whom it is let to Sir
Charles Mordaunt, the previous tenant for many
years having been the late Mr. A. F. Thistle-

JNVERNESS-SHIRE. 191

thwaite, who enclosed the forest with wire. Though
there have always been deer on this ground,
it was only in 1852 that it was afforested. It
spreads over 35,000 acres of high, stony hills and
grassy corries ; the two highest points being Beinnein
Mhor, the "big peak," 3,700 ft., and A Ghruagach,
"the maiden," 3,442 ft. There is a sanctuary of
about 4,000 acres, and good woods on the sea-shore
of Loch Leven, and hence the deer, having the
protection of this low-lying cover, rarely suffer much
even in the most severe winters. Up to the time
of his death, the late Col. Campbell of Monzie
kept the forest in his own hands, and many were
the fine beasts he got, for he was a good and keen
stalker, while probably no man, gentle or simple, had
a better knowledge of deer than he had.

Here in the autumn of 1862 a somewhat curious
and laughable adventure was witnessed by the
Colonel, who, having wounded a good stag near
the top of Corrie Gail, bade Jamie Macpherson slip
the deerhound. The stricken beast made its way

192 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

to the foot of the corrie, and plunged into a large
deep pool of the river Nevis. It happened that
the Achreach forester was about at the time, and
seeing what was likely to happen, he raced down
to his side of the pool, while Jamie being on the
other side with the baying hound, the stag swam
round and round, till, on nearing Jamie's bank, he
at once jumped plump astride the animal, " Just
like the rash little man he was," as Mrs. Campbell
is well warranted in saying. Jamie was then carried
about till he managed to open his knife with his
teeth, and forgetting that he could not swim, in
sticking the stag he scuttled his own ship, and
would assuredly have been drowned had not the
other man, by dashing into the water as far as he
could venture, just managed to reach Jamie with
his stick as he was sinking. The river Nevis was,
however, eventually fatal to the poor fellow ; for a
little time after this adventure, and purely to
save himself a short walk to a bridge, he lost
his life when attempting to jump from stone to

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 193

Stone at a bad place when the river was in high
flood.

Mamore marches with the forests of Corrour,
Inverlochy and Black Corries, but unless the fence put
up by Mr. Thistlethwaite has been partially removed,
these adjacent forests can be of no use to Mamore
as far as interchange of blood goes. The present
tenant is limited to seventy stags, the bulk of which
are got by stalking by two rifles, and give a mean
weight of 15 stone 6 lbs. clean, while in good seasons
the average runs as high as 16 stone.

In connection with the owner of Mamore and
Meoble forests I must not omit to mention that
Mrs. Campbell has been spirited enough to have
translated into Gaelic for distribution amongst the
Highlanders a pamphlet on the deer forests, most
ably and impartially written by Mr. Malcolm, the
well-known and popular manager of Mrs. Ellice's
estates of Glengarry and Glenquoich, and to him my
best thanks are due for the greater part of my informa-
tion concerning these two last-mentioned forests.

2 c

194 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

In the above description of Mamore I have alluded
to Mrs. Campbell of Monzie as the owner of the
forest of Meoble, but this is hardly correct, as that
part of her estate is let as a sheep farm, the tenant
clearing a portion of it before the commencement of
the stalking season, to ensure some good few heavy
stags to his shooting tenant.

FOREST OF MORAR BY FORT WILLIAM.

This estate, afforested between 1880 and 1885
and so well-known for its very heavy deer, is one of
the Lovat properties, and on it the present lord
killed his first stag. It covers some 13,000 acres of
very steep rocky ground, the highest point of which
is Sgur-na-natt, or " the hat hill," of nearly 3,000
feet ; there are many fine grassy corries, and the
absence of any wood for winter shelter is in a great
measure compensated for by a small sanctuary, and
the fact that the lower grounds of the forest descend
to the salt water shores of Loch Nevis, where neither
frost nor snow ever hold long sway. On the east and

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 195

south-east it marches with Meoble, on the north-east
with Lochiel sheep ground, while it touches Knoydart
on the north. The kill is limited to thirty-five
stags a season, which average nearly 16 stone
clean, and in 1893 the present tenant, Mr. F. W. Gill,
of Oswestry, made a remarkable bit of stalking and
good shooting, as after getting up to a company
of ten big stags he killed eight of them, which
averaged 17 stone 7 lbs. clean.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century this
ground of Morar witnessed many battles and single
combats between the members of the Glengarry clan
and that of the Mackenzies of Kintail ; and later
on, in 1745, after Culloden, Simon Fraser, Lord
Lovat, hid himself here for a considerable time in a
hollow tree. It was also in Morar, at the south end
of Loch Nevis, where the present estates of Knoydart
and Morar join, that Prince Charles landed, when
making his escape from the Isle of Skye, and so
hot was the pursuit in these out-of-the-way regions,
that he was forced to pass three nights in the open

196 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

air, and on the fourth, having placed himself under
the guidance of John Mackinnon of Morar, Charles
had a most narrow escape of capture whilst being
rowed further down the loch to a place of greater
security, for, coming suddenly round a corner of
rock, they found themselves in the presence of a party
of militia who had just landed, but before the soldiers
could regain their boat, such a good start was got
that the Pretender's party were enabled to save
themselves by running ashore at a spot where a
dense wood came down to the water's edge, in which
they made a successful escape. The prince then
sought shelter with Macdonald of Morar, taking the
place of Mackinnon's servant on the journey. On
approaching a swollen ford, Mackinnon, being anxious
to keep Charles dry, asked their guide to carry " this
poor sick fellow " across, a request which was angrily
refused, the man saying, " The deil be on the back he
comes, or any wretched fellow of a servant like him,
but, sir, I will carry you over with pleasure ; " to
this kind offer Mackinnon replied, "No, by no means,

INVERNESS-SHIRE. 197

SO if the lad must needs wade, then I will wade
with him to see he comes to no harm," so taking
Charles by the arm, they proceeded to ford the
swollen waters. On reaching Morar House, they
found Macdonald living in a hut, his own mansion
having been destroyed by the king's soldiers, and
Charles, fancying he was not too welcome, continued
his journey to Borobol.

FOREST OF ROTHIEMURCUS BY AVIEMORE.

This ancient forest is one of the few of which I
have not been able to collect any reliable information.
It is owned by Mr. Sheriff Grant, rented by Mr.
Hargreaves Brown, and covers some 19,000 acres
of well-wooded, fine-looking deer ground, the greater
part of which can be seen from the Highland rail-
way, as the train runs from Kincraig to Aviemore.
It was near the old castle of Rothiemurcus that the
Marquis of Montrose pitched his camp when pursued
by the Duke of Argyll, from whence he made a
masterly retreat into the forest of Abernethy. Rothie-

198 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

murcus is still famed for being one of the very few
places where the nearly extinct osprey yet breeds,
as on Loch-an-Eilean they continue to nest on a
small island in the middle of a lake ; here also, in
1526, there took refuge one James Malcolmson, who
had murdered his kinsman, Lauchlan Mackintosh,
" a verrie honest and wise gentleman;" the water-
girt shelter, however, was of no avail, for during a
dark night Lauchlan's friends crossed to the isle,
surprised, and slew the assassin.

FOREST OF STRUY BY BEAULY,

This is another of Lord Lovat's forests, of about
18,000 acres of big- featured high ground, very similar
to Braulen, and now let on a long lease to Mr.
Douglas H. Barry. Cleared in 1885, it is wholly
surrounded by other deer grounds, for it marches
with Braulen on the west, Strathconan on the north,
Erchless on the east, and Cannich with Fasnakyle
on the south ; there is no absolute sanctuary, but
the hill of Cam Ban, 2,410 feet, is kept quiet till

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INVERNESS-SHIRE. 199

late in the season, and added to this, on each
side of the glen there is some six miles of wood.
It carries two rifles, but takes a third during the
last few days of the first fortnight in October. The
kill is limited to sixty stags, which are weighed
with heart and liver, and owing to careful nursing,
combined with good management, a steadily increasing
gain of weight is being established, for while in
Mr. Barry's first year, of 1892, the average was but
13 stone 6 lbs., it has been steadily increased, until
in 1895 it reached 14 stone 5 lbs. ; an improvement
which the lessee is hopeful of augmenting for several
seasons to come. On the 9th of October, 1893,
Mr. Barry had the good fortune to secure a re-
markable three-horned stag, of whose head an
illustration is given ; his curious head proved his
death-warrant, for he was much run when shot,
and only killed for the sake of the extraordinary
horns, each one having a distinct coronet, the right
horn being 26 inches in length, and the two left
ones 22 and 22 J inches. In October, 1895, Mr.

200 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Barry also had the luck to lay low the heaviest stag
got in this forest for very many years, which scaled
20 stone 10 lbs.

The house of Struy — Gaelic, Strui, Streams — is
built near the junction of the Farrar with the Glass,
and close to it is the ford of Ath-nan-ceann, "the
ford of the heads," which derives its name from a
fight which took place there about two hundred years
ago, when some of the clan Fraser being detected
by a number of the Chisholms in a cattle-raiding
expedition, the opposing parties actually met in the
water, when in a fierce contest the Chisholms were
victorious, although next day so many heads of both
victors and vanquished were found in the ford that
hence its name.

201

Chapter VIII.
PERT HSH IRE.

FOREST OF ATHOLL BY BLAIR ATHOLL.

I CANNOT but feel the greatest diffidence in dealing
with this magnificent tract of country, for it has
already been most ably and elaborately treated of
by Mr. Scrope in his " Days of Deerstalking."

In addition to the splendid sport it affords, the
estate abounds in historical recollections mixed up
with traditions of clanish warfare and adventures, on
which subjects alone a whole volume could easily be
written. This is certainly one of the oldest, if not
actually the most ancient, of all the Scotch forests, for
there have been deer and Murrays in Atholl from
time immemorial. As is well known. Queen Mary
witnessed a great hunting in Atholl in 1563, when,

2 D

202 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

in addition to a number of deer, five wolves were
included in the spoils of the day. Mr. Scrope states
that in his time, 1838, the whole property extended
to 135,451 imperial acres, of which 51,000 acres was
forest, the rest being sheep ground, while he estimates
the total head of deer of all sorts to have been
between five and six thousand. It is probable that
in the above-mentioned estimates there is included the
areas and deer of the forests of Fealar and Glenbruar,
both of which being now let to tenants, leaves the
Atholl forest of to-day to extend over some 35,000
acres of as fine deer ground as could be desired, of
which the most prominent features are the two big
hills of Ben Derig or Dearg— " The Red Hill "—
{l^lZ'^ ft.), and Ben-y-Gloe (3,670 ft), which of itself
contains no less than twenty-four separate corries, and
even as in Scrope's day, it is still supposed to be the
abode of a witch who, feeding on live snakes, has the
power of assuming the shape of hind, eagle or raven,
together with the ability to drive cattle into morasses,
destroy roads or bridges, and commit other damages,

PERTHSHIRE. 203

which, however, the forces of Nature can usually
accomplish but too well without the aid of witchcraft.
The cloth worn as the most suitable to this forest
is a peculiar slate-grey, which varies very much in
appearance according to the light in which it is
viewed, but doubtlessly well adapted to sunshine
and shadow on stony ground. The "Atholl grey"
was introduced about one hundred years ago by
the fourth Duke, whose foresters' dress then consisted
of an Atholl grey swallow-tailed coat, " yests to
match " (as my tailor's bill puts it), red and green
Tartan hose, with an Atholl Tartan kilt, the
whole being topped by an Atholl bonnet — a sort of
Balmoral, one, with a red, green, and white diced
band, identical with the regimental ribbon of the
old 25th King's Own Borderers, now the Scottish
Borderers. When the present Duke succeeded in
1864, he substituted black and red worsted hose for
the Tartan ones, modernized the cut of the coat, while
an Atholl grey stalking-cap, with peak's fore and aft
and ear-flaps, took the place of the bonnet, and

304 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Atholl now remains the only forest where the use
of the kilt is still strictly adhered to. During the
present Duke's time this small alteration in dress,
together with the abolition of deer drives, have
been the only changes made in the forest manage-
ment since rifles and spyglasses first came into use.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century saltpetre
was being burnt on the hill, one Angus Baillie,
of Uppat, having the credit of killing deer early
in that century with his "glasnabhean," or mountain
match-lock, although the rifle's helpmate, the spyglass,
did not come into use before 1777.

When Mr. Scrope stayed in Atholl, deer drives
on a large scale often took place, and spirited indeed
are his descriptions of them, while equally enter-
taining also are his narrations of the adventures and
hardships to be faced by the stalker ; but whether he
discourses of stalking or driving, one cannot but
notice the great number of stags he and his friends
wounded, only to be eventually secured after a
lengthy pursuit, and it has always seemed to me that

PERTHSHIRE. 205

these plentiful but not immediately fatal injuries must
have been the fault of the high trajectory of the
single-barrel rifle of those days, and probably if
Mr. Scrope or his friends had been armed with
the modern weapon, there would seldom have been
any need to slip so many deerhounds. Times have
altered also in other respects since Mr. Scrope's day,
for I am quite certain there is not now living man
or boy, who, for fear of spoiling sport, would of his
own free will follow the example of Harry Lightfoot,
Scrope's novitiate friend who chose to take the hill
quite unarmed on the first day of his deerstalking
career. Mr. Scrope makes us envious by telling of
Atholl stags of twenty-four and up to twenty-seven
stone in weight, but except in one instance he does
not state whether this was clean weight, while when
he does mention the manner of weighing it was " as
the stag fell ; " for it is related how one of the Dukes
of Atholl killed a wood stag at Dunkeld which scaled
36 stone 6 lbs. before the gralloch. A few pages
later Mr. Scrope estimates this as amounting to

2o6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

6 Stone 6 lbs., which, if correct, brings the clean weight
of the above-mentioned stag to 30 stone, and thus the
one shot by Lord Greville in Glenmore, on October
2nd, 1877, which was verified to be 33 stone clean,
still remains the heaviest Scotch stag I can ever hear
of I rather think Mr. Scrope's estimate of the weight
of the gralloch is under the mark, and that as a rule
in good-conditioned beasts one-third of the total weight
is more nearly correct ; thus a stag scaling 1 8 stone
as he falls will rarely turn the beam at anything over
1 2 stone 7 lb. ; but as only on five occasions have I
ever seen the whole carcass weighed, I may not have
had opportunities sufficiently numerous to speak with
confidence, and the foregoing remarks are derived
solely from the small experience already mentioned.
The beasts that I saw weighed, however, were fine,
fat, healthy stags of from 18 to 27 stone gross weight ;
and this being the case, I cannot see why the weights
shown by these few should be incorrect when applied
to larger numbers.

Old Blair Castle stood several sieges, and was

PERTHSHIRE. 207

the scene of many tragedies. Early history tells how
it was stormed by Angus Og, Lord of the Isles, who
took the earl and countess prisoners to Isla, releasing
them very soon after their arrival. In 1509 Allan
Macruari or MacRory was beheaded in the courtyard
of the castle in the presence of the Scottish king, but
history does not record the reason. When Sir
William Murray of Tullibardine came into the family
estates in 141 6, he married a daughter of Sir John
Colquhoun of Luss, and the union being blessed by
seventeen sons, it is from them that the bulk of
the numerous families of Perthshire Murrays are
descended. Tradition states that these seventeen
sons all lived to be men, and they one day went with
their father to attend the king's court, at Stirling,
" each with a servant, and their father with two."
These thirty-seven men made a brave show, but as
a law had just been passed forbidding anyone to go
about with a large following, the Laird of Tullibardine
was challenged on the subject by the king, who, when
he learnt that they were only his sons, with a

2oS THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

servant apiece, was so pleased with the matter that he
presented each of them with small lands in heritage.

In 1689 the Atholl men fought for Dundee, per-
forming prodigies of valour at KilHecrankie, although
not with their chief at their head, as he did not
join the Viscount. An Atholl laird, Stewart of
Ballechin, pursued the enemy so hotly, while wielding
a tremendous broadsword, that at the end of the fight
his hand had become so swollen that it could only
be released from the basket hilt by sawing away
the fret-work. Some traditions state that on Dundee's
being mortally wounded he was carried to Blair Castle,
and died there ; but the best authenticated records say
that he was watering his horse, close to Urrard House,
when a bullet, fired from one of the windows, laid
low the gallant soldier, who, on receiving the wound,
was carried to the inn at Blair to expire there ; but
be that as it may, one of the most treasured relics
in Blair Castle is the breast-plate, pierced by the
fatal ball, just as Dundee wore it when he fell.

I regret I am unable to give my readers the

PERTHSHIRE. 209

average annual kill and weights reached in this
forest in the present day.

FOREST OF CRAGANOUR BY KINLOCH RANNOCH.

A PROPERTY of Sir Robert Menzies, on Loch
Rannoch side, recently afforested, and at present
rented by Mr. E. N. Buxton. It covers some
12,000 acres of ground, of which 2,000 acres are
sanctuary. The place is somewhat too much in its
infancy as a deer-ground to say anything for certain
of the kill of stags ; it works well in any wind, and
is expected to yield from fifteen to eighteen stags,
which by degrees should be increased to twenty-five
or thirty.

FORESTS OF DALNACARDOCH AND STRONPHADRICK BY
BLAIR ATHOLL.

A GROUND of the Duke of Atholl's, afforested about
eight years ago, extending over some 15,000 acres
of fine wild hills and corries, and marching with Gaick
and Glen Bruar on the north, the other boundaries

2 E

2IO THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

being sheep-ground. It carries one rifle comfortably,
but I have no information as to what sport it has
hitherto yielded ; but in any case it cannot yet have
arrived at its best.

FOREST OF FEALAR BY PITLOCHRY.

This property, of about 14,000 acres, joins Atholl
Forest, and is really a part of it, and belongs to
the Duke. It holds a great number of hinds, is very
easy walking, and is best worked by one rifle, while
the bag varies so considerably that no fair average
can be stated ; but as many as sixty-three stags, with
a mean weight of 14 stone 11 lbs. clean, have been
got in a season.

FOREST OF GLENARTNEY BY COMRIE.

Belonging to the Earl of Ancaster, who keeps
it in his own hands, this is a very ancient royal
forest of some 20,000 acres, the highest ground on
which attains an altitude of 3,210 ft.

It is the most southern of all the mainland forests ;

PERTHSHIRE. 211

sheep grounds surround it on all sides, the nearest
cleared lands being those of the Black Mount, some
twenty-five miles distant. I have no authentic in-
formation of the total annual yield of stags from
this forest, but as the property is never in the
market, and not likely to be, the omission is one
which will not be of much importance to my readers.
On the Callender end of the ground, a portion of
the hill of Uam Var, made so well known by Sir
Walter Scott, forms part of the forest, and the
opening scene of " The Lady of the Lake " is laid
here, when the hunted stag, who

" Deep his midnight lair had made
In lone Glenartney's hazel shade,"

is used as the means of introducing Fitzjames to
the Lady of the Lake.

In this hill of Uam Var is a great den or cave,
reputed in remote ages to have been the abode of
a saint, and in later years used as the abode of a
very different sort of people, who were either cattle-
lifters or robbers. It was in Glenartney in 1589 that

212 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

some of the proscribed Macgregor clan, when on
a poaching expedition, murdered one John Drummond
of Ernoch, a royal forester, an incident which forms
the foundation of Sir Walter Scott's " Legend of
Montrose," and a barbarity that likewise led to
many desperate encounters between the Macgregors
and the clan of the murdered man.

FOREST OF GLENBRUAR BY BLAIR ATHOLL.

A GROUND of about 10,500 acres, marching with
Gaick, Atholl and Glenfeshie. It belongs to the
Duke of Atholl, and was let to Major E. H. Baldock
for the season of 1895. There are but few corries
on it, and a good deal of stalking has to be done
over peat bogs, while, as much of this sort of ground
is very bare, long and snake-like flat creeps are
often the order of the day. The bag here varies
very much according to the prevailing winds of the
stalking season, while it likewise makes a great
difference to the total whether the nearest adjacent

PERTHSHIRE. 213

ground of Atholl is much worked or kept quiet, as
all the best stags are there ; thus with both conditions
unfavourable, it is possible to go to the hill for many
days in succession without seeing a shootable beast.
The last tenant was limited to forty-five stags and got
but twenty-four, which averaged 14 stone 8 lbs. clean.
Major Baldock met with a curious experience in
the month of this last September, for having wounded
a stag, he lost sight of him after a long pursuit, and
only came up with him late in the evening quite
in the dusk, when the stag was seen on the sky-line
going very slowly and stopping every now and again.
The next day the Major was obliged to drive to
Struan in the morning, so telling his stalker to
start off to try and find the beast, he ordered him,
if successful, to send word back to the house by
mid-day. When Major Baldock returned, he found
the stalker there to say that having made out the
stag, he had left a man to watch him, whereupon the
Major started to stalk the stag ; as he got near, the
animal laid down, when, after waiting on him for

214 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

half-an-hour, the poor beast suddenly rolled down the
hill stone dead !

FOREST OF RANNOCH LODGE, KINLOCH RANNOCH.

This is another of the properties of Sir Robert
Menzies, which has been cleared for a considerable
time. It is fine wild ground with several very
large bold corries, holding both stags and hinds,
and one rifle can go out in any wind, although at
the end of the season a second rifle can usually take
the hill when it blows from a suitable airt. The
whole estate is some 24,000 acres, beautifully placed
at the head of Loch Rannoch, of which 12,000 is
forest, marching with Corrour and Ben Alder, with a
sanctuary of 2,000 acres, the remainder being sheep
and grouse ground. Five hundred acres have re-
cently been planted on Loch Ericht side, where the
trees are doing well, which, when once the deer can
be admitted, will prove a great shelter to them. The
limit at present is thirty stags, which with heart
and liver average about 15 stone 7 lbs., and this

PERTHSHIRE. 215

number should always be got, and it is not the
fault of the forest if the maximum be not reached.

The lodge was built in 1803 ^^ the far end of
Loch Rannoch, and looks on to one of the finest
views in all Scotland, although the hurricane of
November, 1893, has made the background appear
somewhat bare for the moment, as no less than
sixty acres of wood, planted when the house was
built, were laid flat. It would be inconsistent to
take leave of the Rannoch Forest without reference
to the clan Menzies, who have been established there
for many centuries. They fought for Bruce at Ban-
nockburn ; many of them were "out" in 1715, and
notably one laird — Menzies of Culdares — who, being
taken prisoner at the battle of Dunblane, on receiving a
free pardon, felt himself in honour bound not to join
the rebellion of 1 745 ; in order, however, to show he
was still devoted to the cause, he sent a valuable horse
as a present to Prince Charles. The Highlander who
had charge of the animal was arrested, and though
offered his life if he would divulge the name of

2i6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

his master, he nobly preferred death to betraying his
trust. It was a descendant of this Menzies of
Culdares that first introduced the larch into Scotland
in 1737, and from two plants he gave one of the
Dukes of Atholl come all the immense larch planta-
tions that now flourish in that district. The present
Sir Robert Menzies is well known as one of the
most hardy and skilful deer stalkers of the north,
and I believe I am right in saying that never yet
has he availed himself of a seat on pony back either
to get to or return from the forest, and as that book
from which those who have titles to their names
cannot escape, says that the popular baronet was
born in 181 7, his powers of endurance are rendered
the more remarkable, and all good sportsmen
will join with me in wishing health and long
life to the " gael us dearg au suas," or "the
red and white for ever," which was the old Menzies'
battle-cry and is descriptive of their tartan, to my
mind the most handsome of them all.

PERTHSHIRE. 217

FOREST OF TULLADII-A-BEITHE BY KINLOCH RANNOCH.

This is another of Sir Robert Menzies' recently-
made forests on Loch Rannoch, marching with
Camsericht, Rannoch Lodge, Loch Ericht, and
Craganour. It covers some 14,000 acres of ground,
well sprinkled with hills, woods and plantations on
the Loch Rannoch side ; the low ground, on which
grouse are shot for the first two months of the
season, makes excellent wintering for the deer,
while the high ground on Loch Ericht side
gives good stalking for one rifle, although it does
not work well in an east wind. The tenant is
limited to eighteen stags, which are usually got,
and average 15 stone with heart and liver. The
forest lodge on the shores of Loch Rannoch,
which was built nearly fifty years ago, has since
then never been a season empty, and has had but
three tenants, the present one being Mr. T,
Weller-Poley, who, on October 12th, 1890, killed
an eleven-pointer stag, which may be said to have

2 F

2i8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

been charging him. He had to risk moving some
hinds in order to get near the stag ; as the ladies
ran together, some small stags came in to join
them, on which the big one stopped, promptly
chased them out, and rejoined the hinds, who were
all standing staring in the direction of the hidden
stalkers ; on the big stag seeing this, he, evidently
supposing the hinds were looking at other stags,
started off full tilt for the spot where Mr. Weller-
Poley was concealed ; the beast came straight at
him full trot, stepping very high, and was but
thirty-five yards off when he was shot in the
chest. Here also the present tenant, whilst shooting
grouse on a high beat, saw one of his retrievers
kill a small black rat, which no doubt was one of
the original British rats, and it is to be regretted that
it did not receive the attentions of the taxidermist.

219

Chapter IX.
ROSS-SHIRE.

FORESTS OF ACHANALT, STRATHBRAN, AND LOCH
ROSQUE BY DINGWALL.

These three estates are the property of Mr. Arthur
Bignold. Achanalt extends to 4,500 acres, Loch
Rosque to 11,000 acres, and Strathbran to 14,500
acres, making altogether some 30,000 acres of ex-
cellent deer ground, and the Parliamentary return,
which put the acreage of these three properties at
45,000 acres, is altogether erroneous. These three
estates, now rolled into one, are bounded by the
river Bran on the south, by the forests of Loch
Luichart and Fannich on the north, and the sheep
grounds of Kinlochewe on the west. Achanalt was
first afforested in 1879, Strathbran came next in

aao THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

1887, followed by Loch Rosque in 1880. The three
properties are excellent examples of what can be
done with deer in a short time, for when Mr. Bignold
first bought the property, there was nearly as good
a chance of meeting with a Red Indian as of coming
across a red deer. The Strathbran section holds,
at the western end of Loch Fannich, the beautiful
Cabuie Glen, together with a large part of " The
Cailleach," or Old Woman Hill. The highest ground
of the forest is in the Loch Rosque division, where
an altitude of 3,060 feet is reached. During the
last ten years the proprietor has planted some five
million trees on the low grounds, while in addition
to this the Achanalt part contains the natural birch
- wood of Chuillim, which, extending for fully three
and a half miles, is celebrated for the large stock
of black game it holds, the numbers of woodcock
breeding there every season, and the nesting of the
golden eye and goosander on the wooded shores of
Loch Chuillim.

The Loch Rosque beat is under the charge of

ROSS-SHIRE. 221

Donald Mackintosh, the head forester, who has lived
at Achnasheen for over thirty years. Duncan Fraser
and John Mitchie look after the Strathbran portion,
while Kenneth Gillanders takes care of the Achanalt
section. In the Long Corrie of Ben Fin there is a
large joint sanctuary for the three grounds, into which
the deer begin to gather in May, and out of which
they do not break until the first week of the October
following ; and in this corrie, early in September of
1894, no less than 870 stags were counted, besides
knobbers and hinds, amidst them being a remarkably
fine hummel, who has been on the ground for the last
three seasons. This forest will carry three rifles, but
not for every day of the season ; all deer are got by
fair stalking, the average annual kill being from
seventy to eighty stags (in 1895 it was eighty-three
stags), which, with heart and liver included, show a
mean weight of 13 stone 9^ lbs., but this total takes
in the weights of some small beasts, shot by accident
or by novices, which it would have been better to
omit taking any notice of. The entire stock of

222 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

deer belonging to the three grounds is somewhere
between i,8oo and 2,000 head, while up to the
present only two stags have been killed weighing
over 20 stone. One was got by Count Szapary
of 21 stone 6 lbs., and the other, with only six points,
scaled a stone heavier. In an enclosed portion of
the Chuillim wood Mr. Bignold has a nice herd of
wild Japanese deer, the produce of some beasts given
him by Lord Powerscourt some ten years ago. They
are somewhat smaller than fallow deer, and are
remarkably savage to strangers of their own species,
for on two fresh stags being introduced to the
herd, they were both promptly killed. At present
these deer have not been turned wild on to the
hills, but as they are very fleet of foot, quick of
eye, and possess the most sensitive of noses, they
should make exciting and difficult stalking whenever
that time comes. With this herd there was also at
one time a pair of Axis deer, imported by Mr. Bignold
from the Himalayas, but the experiment did not turn
out satisfactory, as the stag invariably killed his

ROSS-SHIRE. 223

offspring (dropped at Christmas time) as soon as
they arrived at or about two years of age ; the
old stag is now dead, and the hind alone remains.
In the unenclosed part of this Chuillim wood there
is likewise a herd of about two hundred fallow deer,
free to roam where they like, and fresh blood has
been introduced from Windsor Park. Amongst this
herd there was at one time a white doe, well authenti-
cated to have been twenty years old, who, after
reaching that age, died from starvation through the
loss of her teeth, this being one of the few instances
of any beast dying of hunger on this ground, for the
wintering is so good as to render such distressing
occurrences most rare. The clearances made by
Mr. Bignold have had the effect of opening up to
deer a most extensive and continuous chain of
forest ground, and they can now wander from north
to south (or vice versa), from the southern boundary
on the river Bran to the northern extremity of the
forest of Rhidorrach, a distance of forty miles as
the crow flies ; again, from the western march of

2;»4 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Loch Rosque to the eastern boundary of Ben Wyvis
Forest a similar chance is offered to the deer of
travelling over a like distance, stretching from east
to west. On the hill of Ben-y-vich, in 1894, there
was a pair of dotterels, supposed to be almost the
last of this race in the north of Scotland ; in the
Faden Burn, on the west end of the ground, the
golden eagle and the peregrine frequently nest, whilst
among the rare small birds Ray's wagtail may be
mentioned. In the winter of 1891 a sad accident
happened in the enclosed deer park at Strathbran.
With the tame deer there was a royal red deer stag,
who had been taken as a calf out of Corrie Reoch
in Fannich by John Maclennan, the forester there.
It had been hand-fed with milk, and eventually
turned out into this park, and was eleven years old
at the time of the tragedy. In December, 1891,
poor John came across the hill from Fannich early
in the morning to reach Strathbran, and in order
to avoid a very small detour he jumped the deer
fence, and crossed the park where he well knew

HOSS-SU/RE. 225

this stag was, while at the same time he was equally
aware he was a dangerous beast. The rash man
had not even so much as a stout stick with him,
and had gone but a short distance ere he was
attacked and killed, his cries for help being heard,
but not understood, by some women in the road.
His cap was found where the struggle began, some
sixty yards from his body, and clearly he had fought
hard for his life, for Maclennan was a strong man
of over six feet. The poor fellow was found lying
with his head on his arm, very little knocked
about, and pierced but in two places, one wound
being in the stomach and the other in the heart.
He lies buried in the churchyard of Lochbroom,
and his epitaph, affixed by Mr. Bignold, is, "Tot
cervorum victor non senectuti sed cervo cessit."
Previous to the death of Maclennan one of Mr.
Bignold's foresters, Duncan Fraser, had had three-
quarters of an hour's fight for his life with this very
stag, who surprised him quite unarmed, whereupon
Duncan instantly jumped plump on to the stag's

2 G

226 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

head, holding on by the horns, and being a strong
man, he contrived to keep his seat, while the stag
kept carrying him round the enclosure. At last
his cries for help were heard by a shepherd, the
father of the John Maclennan this stag killed shortly
after, who, armed with a spade, made haste to the
rescue, and as good luck would have it, as he
reached the gate of the enclosure the stag with
Duncan came close past it, so the shepherd opening
it smartly, Duncan bounded off his unpleasant
steed, to make a dash for the opening, through
which he just managed to squeeze in time for
them to close it in the face of the infuriated beast.
Once in safety, Duncan was so utterly exhausted
by the prolonged struggle that he fainted clean away,
and it was some time before he recovered sufficiently
to proceed to his house.

FOREST OF ACHNASHELLACH, " THE FIELD OF STORMS,"
BY ACHNASHELLACH.

This forest, nearly surrounded by other deer
grounds, was purchased not very long ago by

ROSS-SHIRE. 227

Mr. Emerson Bainbridge, from Lord Wimborne, who
became the owner in 187 1. It covers a large extent
of high, rough ground, but I have not been able to
procure any reliable information. " The Field," which
is rarely incorrect, states that twenty-eight stags were
killed in this season of 1895, t>ut from other equally
trustworthy sources I hear that the ground was very
lightly shot, and that this forest, when harder worked,
is capable of making a far better return from the
25,000 acres over which it extends. Corrie Vanie is
a large and celebrated corrie on this ground, and it
was from here that the stags were driven when, on
October 5th, 1870, Mr. Tenant, the then occupant,
gave a deer drive to the Prince of Wales, which
resulted in the death of nineteen good beasts.

FOREST OF ALLADALE, ARDGAY.

This fine ground of some 40,000 acres is the
property of Sir Charles Ross of Balnagowan, and
is let to Sir H. B. Meux, who joins it on to Deanich.
On the east it marches with the forests of Amaf and

228 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Glencalvie, on the south and south-west with Deanich
and Corriemullzle, and the Langwell sheep ground
on the north and north-west. It contains no
sanctuary, but there is a fair quantity of winter-
ing woods on some of the lower slopes, while, if it
is let on a long lease, no limit is made as to the kill,
but on the other hand, if the let is a short one, then
the proprietor imposes a limit, which is a reasonable
and sensible way of dealing with long and short leases.
For many years this ground has been more or less
a forest, and the sheep have been cleared from time
to time as was deemed expedient. The hills run up
to 2,700 ft. The forest will carry three rifles, and
yields from sixty to sixty-five stags of from 15 to 16
stone clean weight.

FOREST OF ALINE, STORNOWAY.

Belongs to Lady Matheson, and is at present
rented by Mr. H. Holmes. It has an area of some
10,000 acres of chiefly burnt ground with but little
heather, and thus the prevailing tint of the ground is

JROSS-SHIRE. 229

one to which a light yellow cloth is most suitable.
The absence of either sanctuary or wood for winter
shelter the deer remedy for themselves in severe
weather, by shifting on to the adjacent forests of
North Harris and Morsgail, according to the direction
of the wind. The greatest altitude is 1,600 ft, which
is reached on the summit of Lienthaid, Carnnabhal is
1,240 ft., and Beinn-na-Mhuil — the hill of the mile —
is 1,200 ft. This ground was first afforested about
fifty years ago, only again to be put under sheep,
and then, in 1890, it was once more cleared. It
easily carries one rifle, with a limit of fifteen stags,
which, like all the other Lewis stags, are handsome
little fellows, scaling about 12 stone clean, with
small, prettily-shaped horns usually carrying a number
of points.

I shall here take the opportunity of dealing very
shortly with the remaining forests in Lewis, and for
a description of the character of the ground and the
size of the deer my readers can turn to the account of
Lady Farquhar's forest of Amhuinsuidh, in North

230 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Harris, which is a part of the county of Inverness.
In addition then to Aline, Lady Matheson owns four
other forests in the island. Park covers some 41,000
acres; Morsgail, 20,000 acres; Scaliscro but 3,140
acres ; while Arnish, a small home forest, or rather
a big deer park to Stornoway Castle, extends but to
2,776 acres. I regret to say that of none of these
four grounds have I been able to procure good
information.

FOREST OF AMAT BY ARDGAY.

This is a very small forest, touching Alladale on
the west and Diebiedale on the south, the other
boundaries being sheep and grouse ground. It
belongs to Mr. Ross of Pitcalnie, and is at present
let to Mr. F T. Gervers.

FOREST OF APPLECROSS BY LOCH CARRON.

This vast property, at one time the home of the
clan Macdonnell of Glengarry, was purchased en d.'oc
by the Duke of Leeds. It then consisted of 144,000

ROSS-SHIRE. 231

acres, which the Duke bought for ^135,000, or
18-y. /[d. an acre. Later on the property was resold
in several lots. In 1871 Lord Wimborne bought
Achnashellach and Glenuaig, Mr. Ogilvy Dalgleish
took Coulin, while Lord Middleton in 1861 became
the owner of Applecross proper. The forest is a
peninsular one, Loch Carron bounding it on the
south and Applecross Sound on the west, while the
other sides march with the forests of Glenshieldaig,
Ben Damph and New Kelso. It is rough, stony, high
ground, Ben Bahn being 2,936 feet, with several other
hills ranging from 2,000 feet upwards. The grounds
of the crofters, who are on this estate a really happy
family, are carefully wired off from the forest, and
Lord Middleton has spent over ;^ 100, 000 on the
whole place since he bought it. I have heard on
fairly good authority that from seventy to eighty
stags are killed each season, but as the rainfall of
these parts is returned at 60 inches a year, I should
imagine that the numbers of the killed must vary
very much, for in seasons where a good part of this

233 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

rainfall came in September and October the bag
would perforce suffer a considerable reduction.

FOREST OF ATTADALE, OR BENDRONAIG, BY STRATHCARRON.

Belonging to Sir Kenneth J. Matheson, and rented
by the Baron W. Schroder, a brother of the lessee of
Glenfeshie, the cleared ground of this estate covers
some 15,000 acres, in addition to which there is
other 13,000 of grouse ground. The proper ap-
pellation of this forest is undoubtedly Bendronaig,
for it is called after the big hill of that name which,
rising to an altitude of 2,612 feet, lies in the midst of
the deer ground, but owing to the Attadale shootings
being let with the forest, the whole place by degrees
has become known as Attadale.

Although the ground is steep and rocky, the grazing
is good ; the bag varies from thirty-five to forty
stags of 14 stone clean, but the number killed is
affected more or less by winds and seasons. It is
said that Prince Charlie passed a night on Bendronaig
while waiting for news of a scout he had sent to

J?OSS-SH/NE.

233

Poolewe to lok for the arrival of a ship in which
he expected d escape ; this messenger tradition
states was killd on his road, after passing a night
at a house in Gairloch, where he rashly opened
his sporran to )ay for his entertainment, displaying
thereby several nieces of gold ; the man of the house,
McLean by naie, saw them, and resolving to make
them his own, )ursued the scout and shot him dead.
It was in tryiq; to get tidings of this messenger
that Prince Chrlie came to Bendronaig, where he
passed the nighiin a deep burn at the south-west end
of the hill. Tfe murdered man was wearing a suit
of yellow cloth at the time of his death, and for
many years aftrwards it was remarked in Gairloch
that McLean aii his family were to be seen wearing
pieces of the saie material. There can, however, be
no doubt that MLean did not know he was murdering
a messenger of Pince Charlie, for such an office would
have secured fre pass to anyone all over the High-
lands, no matteihow much gold the messenger had
carried about win him. The proprietor of this estate
I 2 H

234 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

has spent very large sums on repairs, improvements,
plantings, buildings, and river embankments.

FORESTS OF BEN DAMPH AND NEW KELSO, TORRIDOX.

Purchased some years ago by the Earl of Love-
lace from Mr. Duncan Darroch, these properties now
belong to Captain the Hon. Lionel Fortescue King.
The two forests make up 18,000 acres — Ben Damph
being 12,500 acres and New Kelso 5,500 acres —
of high rocky ground, with the hills standing out
singly, their sides much cut up by watercourses,
while on the very high ground there is but little
feeding. The valleys and burn sides afford excellent
grazing. The forests which to-day are known as
Ben Damph and Torridon were cleared by Mr.
Duncan Darroch in 1872, and up till 1885 that
gentleman stalked the whole ground himself. In
that year the Ben Damph portion was sold to the
late Earl of Lovelace, who at once set to work to
build a fine house on it, making roads, pony tracks,
boat-houses, plantations, fences, otherwise spending

ROSS-SHIRE. 335

largely on the place, as is the wont with most pur-
chasers of new properties. In 1888 New Kelso
was bought by the Earl from Sir Kenneth Matheson,
of Ardross, while as it joined Ben Damph on
the east side, it was added to that forest, which
marches on the north with Torridon, on the east
with Coulin, Achnashellach, and New Kelso sheep-
ground, while on the west Loch Torridon forms
a water boundary, on which are the woods of Ard-
more, which cover, together with the other woods
on the shore of Loch Damph, the deer frequent in
numbers during hard weather. The greater part
(4,000 acres) of the hill of Ben Damph (3,000 feet) is
devoted to a sanctuary. The ground carries two
rifles until the end of September, and will then take
a third in suitable winds. A cloth the colour of
Aberdeen granite, in fact, a " Black Mount mixture,"
harmonises best with the prevailing tint of the
surroundings ; from thirty to forty stags are got
each season, weighing, one with the other, 14 stone,
heart and liver included. Some royals are killed

236 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

each year; the horns, however, appear to grow
more to beam than to points, a fine specimen of
this description of head being got in 1894 — a very
massive nine-pointer with a 37-inch span. In
1890 Mr. E. B. Jenkins shot a remarkable three-
horned stag, with the right horn quite natural and
of large size ; the left was nearly as large, but grew
down over the cheek, while a third horn sprang
from the base of this left one, growing in a natural
position to a length of seven inches. This mal-
formation was doubtless the result of an injury,
but though the beast had all the appearance of a
three-horned animal, it cannot be called a true three-
horn, as there should be three separate coronets on
the head ere such a distinction can be claimed.
At Ardmore and Balgay there are small lodges for
the use of stalkers or fishers, as occasion may require,
for in addition to the deer the fish at Ben Damph
are also a strong point, and salmon and sea trout
are in plenty.

ROSS-SHIRE. 237

FOREST OF BENMORE BY ARDGAY.

This property, belonging to Sir Charles Ross, of
Balnagowan, and at present let to Mr. A. H. Heath,
covers about 45,000 acres, of which upwards of 40,000
acres have recently been put under deer. The hill
of Benmore, from which the forest takes its name,
is nearly in the centre of the ground, and rising to
a height of over 3,200 feet, a number of fine corries
lie around the base. On the north these lands touch
the Duke of Westminster's forest of Glen Coul ; on
the west the sheep-grounds of Tumore narrowly
divide it from Glencanisp forest ; the eastern and
southern marches also run with lands devoted to
the production of mutton, on which there are always
a good few outlying deer. The place carries three
rifles, with a limit of sixty stags, which will average
about 15 stone 7 lbs. clean.

On this ground the present Sir Charles Ross put
in a smart piece of stalking. He left his forester
to watch a lying stag, while he went on about a
mile to spy over the ridge they were then on ; while

238 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Sir Charles was away, the stag the forester was
watching got up and moved off, and the man not
Hking to lose sight of him went on also, and thus
when Sir Charles returned he found himself quite
alone on the hill, and being unable to " pick up "
his man by the aid of his glass, he turned short
round and continued his way Into the forest, where
he soon found two stags, which he stalked, killed,
and gralloched for himself, and then before he came
home late that evening he got one more stalk at a
small herd, out of which he killed three, thus leaving
five good stags on the hill for the ponies to fetch
home next day, the heaviest of which was 21 stone
and the smallest 16 stone. All five of these beasts
fell on such steep ground that they had to be cut in
halves, and carried by the gillies to a spot accessible
to the ponies, sent from Inchnadamph.

FOREST OF BEN WYVIS BY EVANTON.

This well-known forest, so closely associated with
the name of that devoted admirer of deer, the late

ROSS-SHIRE. 239

Mr. Horatio Ross, consists at the present time of
some 20,000 acres, part of which was first cleared in
1857, more in 1869, and finally the whole in 1881.
The ground is remarkable for the conformation of the
very high hills it contains, for Ben Wyvis is 3,429 ft. ;
An Sveach, 3,295 ft.; Tom-an-Chonnich, 3,134 ft.;
and Corrie Grand, 3,017 ft., while there are many
others of over 2,000 ft. ; now all these "big fellows,"
unlike the bulk of the high grounds of Scotland, are
neither rocky nor precipitous, but are great, bold,
" rolling " hills, having grass-clad sides, with stretches
of mossy ground round their bases.

This forest, purchased by Mr. Walter Shoolbred,
in 1885, from Mr. Colin Ross, marches on the
north, north-east, and south with the sheep grounds
of Swordale, Castle Leod, and Novar ; while
on the remaining sides it joins the forests of Inchbae
and Kildermorie. In the main valley, and close to
the new lodge the present owner has built at the
head of Loch Glass, there are three nice stretches
of birch wood for winter shelter. The ground will

240 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

carry two rifles each day of the season ; all deer are
got by fair stalking, the average kill being fifty to
fifty-five stags, which weigh, one with the other,
14 to \\\ stone, heart and liver included. Charles
Mackenzie, the present head forester, together with
his father John, both stalked for Mr. Horatio
Ross, who entertained a sincere friendship and a
high opinion of them. It is almost needless to say
that when Mr. Shoolbred took over the property
" Old John " remained in welcome possession of his
cottage at Corrie Vackie, at the door of which he
may still usually be seen in the morning, spyglass
in hand, and ready for a chat with any sportsman
making his way to the forest. On the east beat here
Mr. Shoolbred had a somewhat remarkable day on
the 30th September, 1893. Up to lunch time he had
three separate stalks, each of which owing to shifting
wind was unsuccessful, and then, while seeking a
sheltered spot to rest in for a short time, he saw the
tops of a stag's horn coming towards him, and there
was barely time to drop down and get the rifle out of

ROSS-SHIRE. 241

the cover before he came into view, and was promptly
killed. The spyglasses were not idle during the short
luncheon sit, and soon showed that in a corrie in front
of the party there was a fine royal busily engaged
in herding a lot of hinds. The other stags were
broken into small lots, some feeding, some roaring,
others rolling in the "poll buiridh," and plenty skirmish-
ing with each other, so that there was nothing for the
stalking party to do but to wait, watch, and hope
that some of them would move to better ground.
After a long wait two of the stags left the corrie to
make their way towards the hill the party were on.
As they neared the foot, one stopped and commenced
to rub his horns on an old stump of a tree, but
the other again came straight at Mr. Shoolbred,
and was knocked over in due course. It was then
naturally expected the second stag would be seen
galloping away, but he was so taken up with tearing
at the tree stump that he never heard the shot ; at
last, tiring of his amusement, he commenced to look
about for his companion, when not seeing him, he came

2 I

242 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

trotting on after him, only also to fall dead within ten
yards of the friend he sought. Thus Mr, Shoolbred
got three good beasts on the same hill without stalking
either of them, of which the two last each weighed
over 1 6 stone, while carrying respectively ten and
nine points.

FOREST OF BRAEMORE BY GARVE.

Sir John Fowler purchased this property from
Mr. Duncan Davidson of Tulloch, in 1865. At
that time no part of the 44,000 acres of which it
consisted was in forest, while some fifteen stags was
the usual annual kill, obtained chiefly from the east
side of the ground, where the corries of Beinn
Dearg afforded food and shelter, which never failed
to attract stags. During the years of 1866 and 1867
the daringly placed house of Braemore was built,
and while this was in course of construction about
23,000 acres of ground had been cleared. With
reference to the erection of the house, which stands
some 750 feet above sea-level, the people of the

'fi.

HOSS-SfflRE. 243

district were so surprised at seeing the loftiness of
the selected site that regrets were freely expressed
amongst them that Sir John's relatives were not
consulted as to his state of mind, so that a stop
might be put to the audaciously insane proceeding
of building a house in such a spot, and at such a
height above the level of the valley, which the people
regarded as the only proper place fit for a habitation.
The first visitors to Braemore included several
remarkable men, and amongst them figure the
names of John Gould, the ornithologist ; Edward
Duncan, the artist ; John Campbell of Isla, Sir
William Harcourt, Sir John Millais, Sir Richard
Owen, and Sir Edwin Landseer, and the great artist
stalked several times in this forest, although he had
then nearly retired from active service on the hill.
When Sir Edwin arrived at Braemore he had already
commenced his famous picture of " The Ptarmigan
Hill," a commission from Sir John Fowler, and the
Gordon setters, which are such a prominent feature
of the canvas, were both drawn from a dog the

244 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

artist himself selected from the Braemore kennels,
and carried off with him to the south to study from
at his leisure. The visitors' book is one of the
features of life at Braemore, and from the day of
its commencement Lady Fowler has taken much
interest in its yearly progress. Amongst other
matters are two beautiful drawings by Landseer; a
series of sketches by Millais, one of which illustrates
an unsuccessful day's stalking, while another shows
the adventures of a day on the hill, shared by Sir
William Harcourt and himself. In 1869 Sir Roderick
Murchison, the distinguished geologist, spent three
weeks at Braemore, and revisited the scene of his
labours on the west coast forty-two years earlier.
His remarks in " the book" run as follows : " Adieu,
Braemore, where the cordial reception of kind host
and hostess have made an indelible impression on
the old Silurian ! Forty-two years have lapsed since
(when in company with Professor Sedgwick) I
hammered the rocks at Ullapool, and now, by the
active assistance of Sir John, and the aid of his

ROSS-SHIRE. 245

handy steam yacht, I have been enabled to place
all the great rock formations, which are exposed on
the shores of Loch Broom, in their true order of
age and succession, from my Fundamental Gneiss
(Laurentian), through the grand massive rocks of
Benmore, the Lower Silurian Quartz rocks and
Limestone of Ullapool, up to the overlying Grey
Gneiss of Braemore (Metamorphic Lower Silurian),
on which the mansion stands, and from which,
looking northwards, the spectacle commands, in one
unrivalled view, all the glorious geological series."
The aforesaid book does not say if Sir Roderick
was a deer slayer, but the above remarks have
suggested to the author that possibly he would have
given a novel, interesting, and perhaps puzzling
description of a stalk, from his own point of view.

In 1869 Millais again enriched the visitors' book
with a drawing showing the effect of a Noah's flood
at the lofty site of Braemore House ; then in the
year following the names of Mr. Samuel Morley
and Sir William Harcourt appear in the book,

246 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

on which occasion great pains were taken by Mr.
Morley's host to make him thoroughly understand
the difference between the restricted capabilities of
a mountainous Highland estate and the wild state-
ments given to the world by his Radical friends
of hundreds of thousands of acres kept out of
cultivation, and withdrawn from civilisation, for the
benefit of the deer and the indulgence of the
sporting proclivities of the wealthy Conservative.
Mr. Samuel Morley, having been blessed with a
liberal share of common sense and quick perception,
soon recognised the hollowness of these most
fancifully erroneous assertions, and so much was this
the case that at the present time Mr. Arnold
Morley, his son, is himself a keen forest-renting
stalker. In 1873 Sir William Harcourt wrote the
following lines in the Braemore book, and while
those who are of his political way of thinking
can find no fault with them, the sentiments so
prettily expressed are likely enough to cause a kinder
feeling for the "big man" in the hearts of those

ROSS-SHIRE. 247

who, like myself, most widely differ with his views
political : —

" When the dull dreary session is over,
And Patriots twaddle no more,
How blithely I breathe the brave breezes
Which blow round the braes of Braemore.

" Though ' The Broom ' like our Gladstone meanders,
Or foams down w'th froth in a spate ;
Though the stalker, like Dizzy, in ambush
For his prey is aye lying in wait ;

" Yet here may we cast away care,
And reck not of sorrow or strife ;
But in jollity, friendship, and love,
Rest awhile from the labour of life.

" How sweetly the years fleet away !

Seven summers are gone — aye, and more —
Since I first viewed with wonder and joy
The beautiful Strath of Braemore.

" Yet here, as the summers return.

Midst friendships so faithful and true,
I find kindness which never knows change,
And beauties that ever are new."

In 1874 Earl Cairns, then Lord Chancellor of
England, first visited Braemore, and during this
time the official "Chaff-wax" came to obtain the

248 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Chancellor's seal to official documents, when Sir
W. Harcourt wrote the following description of the
incident : —

" Braemore, Sept. 28, 1874.

" A singular scene occurred one evening, there
being occasion to affix the Great Seal, which the
Lord Chancellor always keeps in his own custody,
to authorize patents. The official ' Chaff-wax ' was
busily occupied in melting the wax in the covered
court where the deer are brought home, and it thus
happened that by lamp light the unusual spectacle
was observed of the solemnity of sealing being per-
formed in the centre of a group of ponies laden with
the Chancellor's dead deer. We are unhappily left
to imagine how the pencil of Landseer would have
illustrated so novel a Highland picture."

Beneath these remarks Lord Cairns wrote as
follows : —

" About this date a great seal was for the first
time seen on this part of the coast, and was allowed
to depart, not only unmolested, but thankful and

ROSS-SHIRE. 249

happy, carrying away impressions of Braemore more
lasting than any which it made while there."

The area of ground under strict forest is 23,000
acres, nearly surrounded by the deer lands of
Strathvaich, Inverlael, Kinloch-luichart, Fannich, and
Dundonnell. In 1865 and 1866, upwards of five million
trees were planted on the eastern slope of the valley,
which have now grown into a good plantation of
1,000 acres. The sanctuary on the western extremity
of the forest covers some 2,500 acres, and holding
in itself shelter, solitude, and fine grazing, it makes
an unusually good one, for in addition to its self-
contained capabilities, the deer are also within easy
reach of the grassy slopes of Beinn-Aonaclair, on
which they can take their fill during the night,
and ere day breaks regain the loneliness of the
sanctuary. The highest ground on the estate is
at the summit of Beinn Dearg, 3,547 feet above
the sea level, but there are many other surrounding
hills which rise to nearly 3,000 feet. From the
period of afforesting in 1865, the average kill has

2 K

250 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

been sixty stags a season, all of which are got by
fair stalking, and though a greater number could
be obtained, yet as sixty is considered the proper
quantity, it is never exceeded, except perhaps by
one or two, while the average weight, in which all
small beasts are included, works out at 14 stone clean.
In 1868, Major Holmes had the good fortune to
secure a very fine royal head with most perfect
symmetrical equality of both horns, and when
Mackay, the Inverness taxidermist, returned it to
Braemore, he volunteered the information that " it
was the finest head of many thousands which have
passed through my hands in modern times." This
head had a span of i']\ inches outside measurement,
with a circumference of 6\ inches round the coronet,
the horns measuring 26 inches in height, taking a
straight line from the centre of the forehead.

Mr. Robert Fowler, Sir John's brother, met with
a remarkable adventure when stalking in Braemore,
the like of which I have never heard of. He and
McHardy, the head forester, who has been there

ROSS-SHIRE. 251

upwards of thirty seasons, having got up to some
stags, Mr. Fowler fired both barrels, killing dead
with the first, but wounding only with the second.
On walking up to the dead quarry, they were
greatly surprised to see another beast lying quite
close by him ; their first impression was that the
one bullet had been fatal to the two, but on
nearer inspection it was seen, by the rise and fall
of his sides in breathing, that this stag was not
only alive, but totally unhurt, and merely indulging
in a very sound sleep. After watching him for a
few minutes, it was decided to try to catch him,
for he was but a three-year-old staggie, and not
worth putting into the larder, so simultaneously
master and man seized him by the hind legs, when
after a sharp but short struggle the stag broke loose,
which was indeed a pity, as I believe the capture
of a stag in such a manner would have been an
unequalled performance, and had Mr. Fowler and
McHardy only seized hold of a horn apiece instead
of a leg, it is more than likely they would have

252 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

been triumphant, for even one strong, heavy,
resolute man getting such a hold of a stag has
him at a great disadvantage, as the longer the
horn the greater the leverage offered for twisting
his neck. It was a curious coincidence that Mr.
Arthur Fowler, Sir John's son, later on also surprised
a sleeping stag, and got within a yard or two of
him before the beast woke. Braemore Forest will
carry two rifles each day, although when the wind
is in the east greater care is required than when
it blows from any other quarter ; this, however, is
generally the case all over Scotland, there being
some peculiar property in a sharp east wind that will
often make deer very restless, and indeed at such
times they will gallop off at full tilt for no dis-
cernible reason. The whole of this forest is so
scattered with huge boulders, big stones, and rocks,
that a grey cloth similar to " The Black Mount
Mixture" is best suited to the ground. Remains
of whiskey stills are here, as in other forests, pretty
numerous on the hills, though perhaps the most

ROSS-SHIRE. 253

interesting relics of olden days are the mounds of
scoriae, found in spots where iron was smelted on a
small scale to provide the rude weapons of the
ancient inhabitants. These mounds are common in
many parts of Ross-shire, and in those days there
was doubtlessly sufficient wood for smelting the small
quantity required, but as there is no iron ore on
or anywhere near the spot, the question naturally
arose as to whence it came. When Sir William
Siemens was at Braemore, he was greatly interested
in this problem, and after a very elaborate investi-
gation by chemical analysis, he came to the conclusion
that the north of Ireland was the only place capable
of furnishing the particular ore which, when smelted,
would form the scoriae he had analyzed.

Although eagles are strictly preserved in this and
the surrounding forests, and though they do not
diminish in numbers, yet certainly they do not
increase, and probably as long as high prices are
offered for their eggs they are not likely to. Near
Braemore House are three ancient stones placed

254 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

eighteen feet apart, the spot being called " Rory's
Leap," after a fine, active, gigantic fellow who had
a home and wife at Ullapool, although he, being of
a restless, unruly nature, was generally to be found
in Perth, where he was ultimately put in prison
to keep him quiet. Just at that time there was
living in Perth a quarrelsome, giant Frenchman of
whom the people were much afraid, and it was
suggested that Big Rory of Ullapool should be
released and introduced to the foreigner, which
being done, the two quickly came to loggerheads,
when Rory, challenging the bully, killed him in fair
fight — an act for which he received a permanent
pardon, whereupon, like a good husband, he started
away for home, and arriving at this particular spot
of " Rory's Leap," on catching sight of his native
village, he was so overjoyed that he gave three
tremendous bounds forward, each of them covering
eighteen feet, which splendid performance, inspired by
ardent affection, has been remembered from that day
to this, and the stones placed on the exact spots

ROSS-SHIRE. 255

indicated by his heel-marks still keep this great deed
fresh in the memories of the dwellers in and around
Ullapool. The old road alluded to in the " Statistical
Account of Scodand," published in 1845, by Black-
wood, passed through Braemore for about eleven
miles, and until its construction nearly a hundred
years ago no road, except a shepherd's track,
existed between the Cromarty Firth on the east coast
and Loch Broom on the west coast. In many parts
of this road the bends and angles were so sharp that
it seemed an impossibility for anything on wheels, as
we understand them, to be taken round such abrupt
curves, but in " Burt's Letters from the Highlands of
Scotland," in 1754, there are drawings of carts in use
at that time, very small in size and with wheels not
more than a foot in diameter, which would obviously
be able to turn at any angle, however sharp. It was
not till about forty years ago that the excellent mail
coach road was made that now runs through Braemore
to Garve. The wild cat, the pine marten or sable,
as well as the pole cat, together with badgers and

2S6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Otters, are still in Braemore, but all three of the
former animals have become very rare.

The hedgehog is quite a recent visitor, and is
supposed to have been imported in baled hay ;
foxes, as in other forests, are much too numerous,
the annual kill of old and young being some fifty.
Then coming down to " small deer," the natives
assert that the old British black rat still exists, an
animal much to be preferred to his ordinary brother
of every-day life. In January, 1892, Braemore and
the adjacent county was visited by a flood, scarcely
less destructive to roads, bridges, and river-beds than
the great Morayshire flood of 1829, so vividly described
by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder. On January 2nd snow
began to fall in the Braemore district, and continuing
nearly incessantly until the 8th, an average depth of
nearly two feet was accumulated, while the drifts on
the hills and in the valleys were of course of a far
greater profundity ; all wheeled traffic became entirely
suspended, and the mails were carried on horseback.
On the 1 6th a gentle thaw set in, continuing

ROSS-SHIRE. 257

until the 27th, when a much warmer temperature
with a high wind was followed by extraordinary
torrents of rain. It was in the midst of the pitch-
dark night of the 28th that the dwellers in the Loch
Broom strath were woke from their sleep by the
alarming roaring of the river Broom, which told them,
only too plainly, that a flood of unusual violence was
raging. The morning light exhibited the valley in
a plight that will never be forgotten ; the whole strath
was one vast lake ; Inverbroom House with many
smaller ones were half submerged by the tearing
flood, on which great trees, together with the bodies
of cattle, sheep, and deer, were borne along at in-
tervals, while for weeks afterwards the road between
Loch Broom and Garve was rendered nearly useless,
as every bridge on it had been washed away, so
that passengers progressed but slowly from point to
point only by exchanging conveyances at every broken
bridge.

The history of the Braemore plantation, already
mentioned as holding five million trees, and covering

2 L

258 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

one thousand acres, may be of use to forest owners
contemplating the formation of woods. The one
under discussion was planted in 1865-6, on the
eastern slope of the valley of the Broom, and
commencing at an elevation of but fifty feet above
the sea, it rises to an altitude of one thousand feet.
The trees are chiefly Scotch pine and larch, although
in the best soil, on the lower ground, a variety of
hard wood trees were put in, such as ash, oak, elm,
copper beech, birch, maple, sycamore, rowan, and
chestnut, each being given a chance of seeing how
they would fare in the Braemore soil. The height of
the now thirty-year-old trees varies from a maximum
of fifty-one feet, a larch, to a minimum of fifty inches
in height, with a maximum girth of sixty-six inches
to a minimum of six inches. This extraordinary
variation is due to the richness of the low level
soil as compared with nearly total absence of any soil
at all at the highest points. The deer were kept
strictly out of this plantation until the trees had
reached a height of about fifteen feet, when they were

ROSS-SHIRE. 259

admitted to all parts of it, greatly to their gain in
the luxuries of deer life. Alder, Scotch fir, birch,
aspen poplar, and holly are indigenous to Braemore,
and all these self-planted trees are found in places
suited to their requirements. Speculation has ever
been rife as to how the vast ancient forests dis-
appeared, which at one time so evidently covered
so much of the ground that is now heather and moss,
and the following remarkable letter appears to offer
a better and simpler solution of the problem than
any other explanation of the matter.

Extract of a Letter from George, Earl of
Cromartie, to Dr. Hans Sloane, Secy. R. Soc.

November i2>^h, 17 10.

"In the year 1651, I being then about nineteen
years old, and occasionally in the parish of Lochbrun
(Lochbroom), passing from a place called Achnascaild
in Dundonnell to Gruinard, I went by a very high
hill, which did rise in a constant steepness from thence
to the sea ; there is a plain about half a mile round.

26o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

and from it the hill rises in a constant steepness for
more than a mile in ascent.

" This little plain was at that tine all covered over
with a firm standing wood, which was so very old that
not only the trees had no green leaves, but the bark
was totally thrown off; which the old countryman,
who was in my company, told me was the universal
manner in which fir woods did terminate, and that in
twenty or thirty years after the trees would ordinarily
cast themselves up from the root, and that they would
lie in heaps till the people would cut them and carry
them away. They likewise did let me see that the
outside of these standing white trees, and for the
space of one inch inwards, was dead white timber, but
what was within that was good solid timber to the
very pith, and as full of rozin as it could stand in the
wood. Some fifteen years after I had occasion to
come the same way, and called to mind the old woods
which I had seen. Then there was not so much as
a tree, or appearance of the root of any kind, but in
the place thereof, the whole bounds where the wood

ROSS-SHIRE. 261

had Stood, was all over a plain green ground, covered
with a plain green moss. I asked the country people,
who were with me, what had become of the wood, and
who carried it away. They told me that nobody was
at the pains to carry it away, but that, it being all
overturned from the roots by the winds, the trees did
lie so thick and swarving over one another that the
green moss there (in the British language called fog)
had overgrown the whole timber, which they said was
occasioned by the moisture that came down from the
high hill which was above it, and did stagnate upon
that plain ; and they said none could pass over it,
because the scurf of the fog would not support them.
I would needs try it, and accordingly I fell in to
the armpits, but was immediately pulled up by them.

" Before the year 1699 that piece of ground was
turned into a common moss, where the country people
were digging turf and peat, and continue to do so.
The peats, as yet, are not of the best, and are soft and
spungy, but grow better and better, and, as I am
informed, it does now afford good peats.

262 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

" This matter of fact did discover the generation
of mosses, and whence it is that many mosses are
furnished with such timber."

From the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Number 330. (April, May and June, 17 n.)

The Forest of Braemore having offered the use
of such a splendid name to conjure with as that
of the late distinguished geologist, Sir Roderick
Murchison, the author feels it would be throwing
away a chance if he failed to avail himself of the
opportunity of saying something about the geology
of Braemore which will apply equally to all the
forests of the west coat, as well as to many of
those on the east. The whole of this ground
belongs then to the Upper Gneiss or Lower
Silurian series of rocks, which are stratified, and
at the synclinal and anti-synclinal ridges are flexured
and contorted in a very remarkable manner. The
composition of the rocks is quartz, felspar, and mica,
which in some parts is highly garnetiferous. Where
it takes the form of mica slate it splits into laminae

ROSS-SHIRE. 263

of such regularity and thickness as to be valuable
for the floors of houses and the roofing of buildings,
although being laminated and not amorphous, it
cannot be utilised for the corners of structures
requiring sharp regular edges. One characteristic
of the Gneiss and Mica Schist formation is the
production of abrupt deep ravines, and in the
Coire Hallach Ravine and Falls in Braemore the
depth is 250 feet, while in the narrowest part the
width does not exceed 60 feet. No fossils have
been found in this portion of the Silurian rocks, or
in the lower parts of the Silurian series, except in
the Laurentian Gneiss, and then only the somewhat
mythical " Eozoon."

The same reasons which have induced the author
to mention a little of the geology of the west coast
have also led him to dip lightly into a short de-
scription of the flora of this district, and for all
information on this head he is indebted to the
kindness of Mrs. Arthur Fowler, who is herself an
ardent botanist. Nearly all the commoner varieties

=64 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

of British field flowers may be met with in the
Braemore meadows, but many less familiar species
may be found, amongst which the following are
worthy of notice. In the beds of the burns the
earliest of the spring flowers may be found in the
Purple Mountain Saxifrage {Saxi/rigis oppostifolia),
whose rosy bell often appears before the end of
February, while the hills are yet white with snow.

The Rose Bay or French Willow Herb {Equi-
lobrium angusiifiolium) is still occasionally found,
although Macculloch, writing in 1824, says it was then
very plentiful on Loch Broom. The Cloud Berry
[Rubus chaemaemorus), together with the Dwarf Gomel
(Conms snecica), so common in Norway, are both
found at an altitude of 2,000 feet, and not far from
the same spot also grows the Grass of Parnassus
{Parnassi(B palustris) and the Water Lobelia {^Lobelia
dortinamed). The Floating Barweed {Spargannum
natatts), a plant peculiar to the north, grows in the
Home Loch near Braemore House. A patch of
the rare and diminutive trailing Azalea {Azalea

ROSS-SHIRE. 265

procumbens) may be seen on one of the highest
hills, while nearer the sea-level grows the Greater
Skull -Cap, Pale Butterwort and sweet-scented
Orchis, together with the tuberous Bitter Vetch,
the roots of which. Pennant says, were eaten by
the Highlanders. The deep ravines of Braemore
are the homes of many kinds of ferns, such as the
Black Maiden Hair Spleenwort, Green Spleenwort,
Brittle Bladder Fern, Wilson's Film Fern, Beech
Fern, and Oak Fern, Only on one occasion has
the very rare Forked Spleenwort Fern {Asplenhim
septentrionale) been found, when some ten years
ago the head forester brought home a plant of
it which he found on some steep rocks, 3000 feet
over the sea level, and indeed at these high altitudes
grow many tiny plants that have not as yet been
accurately identified.

FOREST OF CLUNIE BY INVERGARRY.

This property belongs to Mr. J. E. B, Baillie of
Dochfour, and was occupied for upwards of twenty

2 M

266 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

years in conjunction with Glenquoich by Lord
Burton. It is at present let to Mr. Frank Bibby,
together with the grouse ground of Ratagan, which
consists of about 10,000 acres, on which, although
wired off from the forest proper, there are always
deer. The cleared portion consists of nearly 14,500
acres of chiefly high, steep ground, several of the
hills being over 3,000 feet ; on the east it marches
with Caennocroc, on the south with Glenquoich, and
on the north with Kintail. The tenant is bound
not to kill deer after the 1 2th of October, and limited
to fifty stags, which have the reputation of weighing
well.

FOREST OF CORRIEHALLZIE BY BEAULY.

This is a nice little forest of some 7,000 acres (in
addition to which there is a fair extent of grouse
ground), belonging to Mr. Gillanders of Highfield,
and let to Mr. G. H. Cheetham. It is good for
ten or a dozen stags, and marches with Scatwell on
the north, with sheep ground on the north-east,

ROSS-SHIEE. 267

Erchless on the east, Achany on the south, and
Struy and Patt on the west.

FOREST OF CORRIEMULLZIE, BRIDGE OF OYKEL.

A SMALL recently cleared forest of fairly steep
and grassy ground, with a very bad road to it from
Oykel Bridge. It belongs to Mr. W. E. Gilmour, is
at present let to Sir Arthur Chichester, and should
yield from twenty to thirty stags, as deer from
Rhidorrach, Alladale, and Deanich can come to
and from it as they choose.

FOREST OF COULIN BY ACHNASHEEN.

This ground formed the eastern extremity of the
great Applecross property, purchased some fifty years
ago by the late Duke of Leeds from the Mackenzie
family ; at various times, later on, portions of this
large estate were sold by the Duke, Coulin, which
has changed hands several times, being amongst the
number. Lord Elphinstone built the present house,
lying between Loch Clair and Loch Coulin, when he

268 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

held this estate some thirty years ago ; after keeping

it for ten years, he parted with it to Lord Wim-

borne, who in his turn sold it some five years back

to the present owner, Mr. J. Ogilvie Dalgleish, of

Errol Park, Perthshire. This gentleman, in addition

to greatly improving the home grounds, roads, and

stalking paths, has also planted about 800 acres to

improve the wintering. The extent is about 15,000

acres, the high ground being rocky and steep, for Ben

Liath Mhor rises to 3,051 feet, while all portions which

are under 1,000 feet give fine feeding. In addition to

Coulin proper Mr. Dalgleish has a further 5,000 acres

of the Kinlochewe estate, rented from Sir Kenneth

Mackenzie. The sanctuary is large and contains

a 3,000 feet hill, quite green to the top, with the

base surrounded by birch and old Scotch fir, offering

warmth and shelter in all winds.

Coulin marches with Achnashellach on the south,
Ben Damph on the west, Torridon on the north,
and Kinlochewe on the east, and yields from thirty
to forty stags, according to the season, while as

JiOSS-SH/RE. 269

the grazing is extra good, some unusually heavy ones
are got each year ; they are weighed clean after
being left on the hill all night, and in 1893 there was
one of 23 stone, another of 22 stone 8 lbs., while
the average weight of the thirty-four stags put into the
larder in that year was 15 stone 8 lbs. Owing to
the nearly incessant rains of 1894, the condition of
the deer of that season was inferior, the heaviest
stag scaling 18 stone 10 lbs., with the average a
good bit below that of 1893. The ground will carry
two rifles every day, all deer being killed by stalking.
On the "off days" salmon and sea trout are a
strong point at Coulin, as they come up out of
Lochmaree into Lochs Clair and Coulin in great
numbers.

FOREST OF DEANICH BY ARDGAY.

This is one of Sir Charles Ross's forests, which,
marching with Inchbae, Inverlael, and Strath vaich, is
let together with Alladale on a lease to Sir Henry
Bruce Meux. There are about 20,000 acres of fine

270 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Stalking ground, which yield, on an average, forty
stags each season, having a mean weight of 1 5 stone
7 lbs., weighed clean.

FOREST OF DIBIEDALE BY ARDGAY.

This ground, with an area of 11,000 acres, cleared
in 1849, is the property of Sir J. Kenneth Matheson,
and is at present let to Sir Greville Smythe. It con-
sists of two main glens running parallel east and west ;
the one covered for the greater part with grass, and
known as Glen Dibiedale, the other with heather and
patches of birch wood, and called Corrievaligan, the
west end of which is of a rocky nature, interspersed
with mosses.

On the south it marches with Kildermorie, on the
west with Inchbae, on the north-west with Alladale,
and on the east comes the grouse moor that goes
with Dibiedale. There is a well-placed sanctuary of
2,000 acres. The highest hills are Cairn Coinneag
(2,749 ft.), "the conical hill," a coinneag being
a conical-shaped wooden cup used in old days for

ROSS-SHIRE. VJl

drawing water; " Beinn Tarsuinn " (2,330 ft.) lies
across and at right angles to the two glens already
mentioned, and hence the name, which is Gaelic for
"across." The first tenant of this forest was the
well-known Horatio Ross, who held it from 1849 to
1865 ; then from 1866 to 1875 the owner, Sir
Alexander Matheson, kept it in his own hands,
when, in 1875, Sir Robert Loder took a lease of the
forest, and his average kill for ten years was thirty-
nine stags, the greatest number got in any one year
being fifty. In 1887 the forest was taken by the
present tenant, that good sportsman, Sir Greville
Smythe, who has made a large collection of heads on
it, the finest of which is a grand thirteen-pointer,
followed, however, by many royals.

FOREST OF DRUMRUNIE, OR COULMORE, BY ULLAPOOL.

One of the properties of the Countess of Cromartie,
afforested in 1876, and let to Mr. Sydney Piatt of
Bryn-y-Neuadd, Llanfairfechan. It has an area of
35,000 acres of very precipitous, steep, rocky ground,

272 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

but with corries full of good grazing, while the numbers
of the lochs are almost uncountable. On the north it
marches with Glencanisp, on the west with the sheep
grounds of Inverpolly and Coigach, on the east with
Rhidorrach, and on the south with other sheep walks.
On the north side of the hill of Coulmore (2,700 ft.),
" big shoulder," is the " Green Corrie," which is kept
as a sanctuary, and as the nature of the ground
renders stalking in it nearly an impossibility, this
corrie is sometimes "moved" towards the end of the
season. It carries two rifles, with a limited kill of
forty-five stags, which average close on 1 5 stone clean.
It was a most remarkable thing that Mr. Piatt,
although the renter of various good forests since 1882,
only got his first shot at a royal in this forest in
1893, under the following curious circumstances: —
Mr. Piatt found his quarry early in the day in
company with several other good stags, and his
stalker at once declared the royal to be a newly-
arrived stranger, for he was restless, uneasy, declining
to settle with the others, and keeping always on

ROSS-SHIRE. 273

the move. The party followed him all day, until at
length he lay down close to the Glencanisp march,
from out of which forest he had no doubt come. It
was then past six o'clock, with naturally a rapidly
fading light, so there was nothing for it but to
"whistle him up," when Mr. Piatt brought off a
shot which rarely succeeds, killing him dead at two
hundred yards,

FOREST OF DUNDONNELL BY ULLAPOOL.

A FOREST of Mr. H. Mackenzie's, rented last season
by Mr. Wythes of Copped Hall, Essex, It covers
some 23,000 acres of very rough, precipitous stony
ground, with the highest altitude reached at nearly
3,500 feet, and over the whole of it the walking is very
severe. In season 1891, fifty-one stags were killed,
with an average weight of 1 3 stone 7 lbs, clean ; but
whether this number accurately represents the yearly
average for the last few seasons I am not able to say.

2 N

274 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF FANNICH BY LOCHLUICHART.

This is also one of Mr. H. Mackenzie's forests,
extending over an area of between seventeen and
eighteen thousand acres, on which the highest ground
rises to 3,600 feet. Lord Ormathwaite, and then the
late Sir Robert Harvey, both held this forest for several
years, and had good sport in it ; recent clearances,
however, having offered the deer of these parts finer,
fresher grazing, Fannich has suffered somewhat
by the formation of the new forests. From the
top of this high hill, which is the backbone of
Fannich and divides Corrie Bheag from Corrie Rioch,
the sea can often be seen on either side, and here,
at an elevation of about 3,000 feet, is a stone
shelter, put up by the late Sir Robert Bateson
Harvey. The ground carries two rifles, and is most
difficult to stalk on, as, owing to the punch-bowl shape
of many of the corries, the wind always blows in
eddies. In this season of 1895 '^ was rented by
Mr. Taylor, in conjunction with the adjacent forest

ROSS-SHIRE. 275

of Kinlochluichart, and " The Field," without mention-
ing weights, states he got twenty-five stags on it.
In connection with this forest there is the story
of the " wild man of Fannich," which has given
rise to the supposition that it is our clothes and
not our bodies that give that taint to the breezes
which the deer so easily scent from afar. The story
of the wild man relates how a " softie " of those
parts escaped from his friends, at the end of one
October, and his crank being that he was a beast
of the fields, he concealed himself in a cave in
Fannich, and after divesting himself of all clothing,
he found that the deer soon allowed him to
approach, and eventually to herd with them.
Here, for nearly a year, this mad but hardy
being remained undiscovered ; but his body became
so covered with hair, and so matted with dirt, that it
formed a kind of garment for him ; he was eventually
discovered by a stalking party in the midst of a herd
of deer, in the September following his disappearance,
and being captured, was returned to his friends.

276 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF FLOWERDALE BY GAIRLOCH.

This property, of some 10,000 acres, belongs to Sir
Kenneth Mackenzie of Gairloch, and since 1874 it has
been rented by Mr. S. W. Clowes. The hill of Ben
Dearg, of about 2,000 acres, was afforested in 1847,
the remainder of the ground being cleared in 1877
by the lessee, who made paths, tracks, put up
foresters' cottages, built stables and boathouses,
at a considerable outlay. This gentleman, now
unfortunately a victim to bad health, was a good
specimen of the " all round " sportsman, for, in
addition to being master of the Quorn, a good game
shot, and fisherman, he was one of the few gentlemen
who could, and did, stalk and gralloch entirely for
himself ; while, moreover, he was one of the very first
to use the double-barrelled breech-loading rifle against
deer. Mr. Clowes's place at Flowerdale is now taken
by his son. Captain A. H. Clowes, who carries on
the forest in the same way that his father did.
Flowerdale consists chiefly of very rocky ground,

HOSS-SH/RE. 277

with plenty of steep-sided corries, tiie lower parts
of which are covered with patches of very long old
heather and pasture. On the west it marches with
Shieldaig, and near this boundary its larch wood of
Chosag affords good wintering, Torridon comes in on
the south, Kinlochewe on the east, and then the
estate, crossing Loch Maree, runs up to Letterewe and
Ardlair on the north and north-east.

The highest hills are Bein-an-Eoin, "bird or
ptarmigan hill " (2,801 ft.), Bus-bhein (2,869 ft-) ^^'^
Ben Dearg, and along the watershed of these two
last-named hills the forest march runs for some miles.
The ground carries one rifle until the last fortnight of
the season, while up to that date it is more of a hind
than a stag forest. The total kill for the last twelve
years has been exactly 203 stags, or, in round numbers,
eighteen per annum, the heaviest of which has
scaled 18 stone, while the average weight works out
at but 12 stone clean. This low weight, however,
must be put down to two causes : first, everything
with horns that has been shot has been weighed

278 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

while secondly, owing to the fact of a number
of novices at stalking, not all very young, having
been visitors to Flowerdale, a lot of small beasts have
been knocked over in the unrestrained ardour of the
new hand, backed up by a kindly desire on the part
of the more experienced "to blood" the novitiate and
make him a stalker for the rest of his days. At one
end of the ground, on the shore of Loch-na-h'Oidhche,
" lake of the night," which holds heavy brown
trout, there is a fairly good bothy for the use of those
stalking that end of the forest ; it has been christened
" Poch-a-biue," " the yellow bag," and is interesting
as having been originally built by an Englishman,
Captain Inge, some time in the thirties, who was one
of the very first of the Sassenachs to come north
in search of sport with the red deer. Before this
bothy was put up the deerstalkers used to sleep
under the shelter of a big rock close by, and the long
heather they used as bedding yet remains under it.
The true wild cat — not the tame cat turned wild —
still exists in this part of Ross-shire. Eagles of both

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ROSS-SHIRE. 279

sorts are yet common, and in relation to one of these
birds there is a curious, but by no means incredible,
story told by the inhabitants of this district, to the
effect that an eagle having swooped down on the
back of a roe buck feeding outside a wood, the
terrified animal dashed back to the thick cover in the
hope of shaking off his assailant. The eagle was
nearly swept from the back of his quarry by coming
into violent contact with the first tree past which
the roe dashed, and then, as attacked and attacker
approached another tree, the eagle gripped the stem
with one of his claws, while keeping his hold of
the roe with the other. So great, however, was the
speed and impetus of the maddened, stampeding roe,
while so firm was the hold of the eagle, that the bird
was split up and torn clean asunder, one half of it
remaining firmly fixed to the tree, while the other
moiety continued to hold on to the roe.

28o THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF GLENCALVIE BY ARDGAY.

This forest, formed by Mr. Robertson of Kindeace,
in 1845, and sold by him to the present owner, Mr.
William Allis Smith, covers close on 5,000 acres of
good ground, which, wedge-shaped in formation, runs
from east to west for some eight miles along the
adjacent forests of Dibiedale and Alladale, whilst on
the north and south it meets the deer-grounds of
Deanich and Amat. The highest ground is about
2,300 feet; Knock-na-tuppet, "the woman's tippet,"
is 1,500 feet, with its base well wooded with some
four hundred acres of thick cover, in which, during
hard winters, from seven to nine hundred stags gather
together. It carries one rifle comfortably ; the deer
are killed only by stalking, and will average, clean,
13 stone 7 lbs. ; a moderate shot will get 20 beasts,
and a better one 30, which latter number the owner
got this season of 1895. On this estate there is also
good salmon fishing in the Carron and Calvie, for in
1893 Mr. Allis Smith got eighty to his own rod, and
in 1895 fifty-two.

HOSS-SH/JiE. 281

FOREST OF GLENCARRON BY ACHNASIIEEN.

These forests of Glencarron and Glenuaig, or
Glen Fhiodhaig, owned by Lord Wimborne, are
situated in the parishes of Lochcarron and CouHn,
the former with an area of 8,100 acres, and the
latter with 7,060 acres, both being at the westerr
end of Strathconan, while on the other sidei
are the forests of Achanalt, Coulin, Achnashellach,
and Monar. The average kill is about forty-five
stags, which, with heart and liver included, vary
in weight from fourteen up to eighteen stone. The
house overlooks the Carron river (in the upper part
of which there is salmon fishing), and has the advant-
age of a private station on the Dingwall and Skye
Railway, within a few minutes' walk. Some of the
forest hills rise to over 3,000 feet, while many of
the lower slopes are covered with old Scotch fir
and natural birch. Loch Sgamhain, out of which
the Carron flows, signifies " Lungs " in Gaelic, and
a somewhat curious legend is told to account for this

2 o

282 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

odd name. The story runs that some children, once
playing on the loch shore, seeing an animal like a horse,
climbed on to its back for a ride ; one by one they
mounted, but as each seated himself on the beast their
fingers stuck fast to the hide, and they were held
prisoners, while the animal dashed off towards the
loch. One little fellow threw himself off, only to
reach the ground with the loss of his fingers, and
then running off home, gave the alarm, but no trace of
horse or the other children could be found. On the
following morning, however, the lungs of the other
boys were found floating on the loch, and hence it
took its name. Like many other parts of the north,
this forest, there can be no doubt, was formerly
densely wooded, traces of old trees being found in
all parts, but how or when these woods were destroyed
will ever remain an open question, although in the
account of Braemore Forest there will be found a
plausible theory for their disappearance.

ROSS-SHIRE. 283

FOREST OF GLENSHIELDAIG BY LOCH CARRON.

This forest, of upwards of 11,000 acres, belongs
to Mr, J. S. Murray, and lies between the deer-
grounds of Applecross on the south-west, and those
of Ben Damph on the north-east. I have not been
able to gather any particulars of the number of
stags killed, but whatever that may be, their weights
will, in all probability, be the same as those of the
stags of the two adjacent forests.

FORESTS OF INCHBAE, STRATHRANNOCH AND TOLMUICK,

BY CARVE.

This is a long narrow ground of about 21,000
acres, belonging to Mr. W. D. Mackenzie, of Farr,
and contains the great wood of Dhucaillie, of some
5,000 acres in extent, in which red, fallow, and roe
deer dwell together. It is at present let to
Mr. J. C. Williams, who joins it on to Strathvaich
Forest, which he has held since 1887. This gentle-
man treats both places in a thoroughly sportsmanlike
manner, as he does not try to kill an excessive

284 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

number of stags ; he stops stalking quite early in
October, rarely killing more than five or six beasts
in that month, although rightly enough he pursues
the deer with energy in August and September,
seldom getting less than twenty fat beasts in the
first-named month, which are carefully picked for
good bodies with clean horns, and for many seasons
he has killed fat stags prior to the 12th of August.
In season '94 Mr. Williams watched a stag finishing
the operation of getting rid of his velvet on the
31st of July, and leaving him on that day to finish
his toilet in peace, he killed him, quite free of velvet,
on the 4th of August. From the two forests of
Inchbae and Strathvaich from ninety to one hundred
stags are taken each season, of which about forty
come from Inchbae. The tenant does not have
his deer weighed, except he himself sees it done,
and thus only the big ones are taken to the
balance ; these are weighed with heart and liver,
and 17 to 18 stone are counted good stags, while
about every third year one of 19 stone is got, and

ROSS-SHIRE. 285

since 1887 only one has turned the scale at
20 stone. Mr. Williams, however, spares many
of the finest heads, neither does he permit his
foresters to pick off the best hinds in the winter,
and by these means he has greatly improved his
stock of deer, both in numbers and in quality —
an example which more of the forest renters might
follow with advantage.

In 1892 a most vexatious piece of bad luck
happened here to Mr. Mackenzie, when in the dusk
he fired at a stag in Glen Kyllachy, and the bullet
striking the base of the horn, the stag escaped.
Mr. Mackenzie having had this stag in view for some
time, was therefore able to recognise him again
three days later in Macleay's shop in Inverness,
when he turned out to be a splendid fourteen-
pointer, who carried the mark of Mr. Mackenzie's
bullet on his horn, whilst vexatlously enough the beast
proved to be the second best head got in Scotland
that season.

286 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF INVERLAEL AND GLENBEG, BY LOCIIBROOM.

This estate of 14,000 acres of forest, cleared in
1882, together with some 6,000 acres of grouse
ground, belongs to Sir Arthur Mackenzie, and is
now let to Mr. A. G. Wood. It is bounded on the
west by Loch and River Broom, while on the other
sides it is surrounded by the forests of Braemore,
Strathvaich, Deanich, and Leckmelm.

The kill of stags for the years 1890 and 1891
was respectively 34 and 29, and an approximate
guide to their weights may be gathered by referring
to those obtained in the surrounding deer grounds.

FOREST OF KILDERMORIE BY ALNESS,

A FOREST of 25,000 acres, cleared some fifty
years ago, belonging to Mr. Walter Shoolbred, and
purchased by him in 1890 from Mr. Munro-
Ferguson, the greater part being let to his brother,
Mr. Frederick Shoolbred. It contains some high
hills, Carn Chumineag being 2,749 ^^^^ ^"^^ ^^^

ROSS-SHIRE. 287

Ean and Mheal Mhor are each over 2,400 feet. The
low ground is limited, while neither wintering
or grazing is any too good, as there are vast
stretches of moss ground. On the south and
south-west it marches with Wyvis and Inchbae,
on the north-west with Dibiedale, the other boundaries
being sheep ground. The stalking season is a short
one, as the stags do not come into Kildermorie
in large numbers until they are seeking the hinds,
so that the kill has to be made in a short time,
for by the terms of the lease stalking terminates
on the loth of October, the usual season's total
being forty-five to fifty stags, weighing an average
of 14 stone, with heart and liver.

KINLOCHEWE BY ACHNASHEEN.

Belongs to Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, and is let
to Mr. W. M. Cazalet. There are 20,000 acres of
cleared ground in addition to a large extent of grouse
shooting. On the north it marches with Letterewe,
the east and north-east boundaries are sheep ground,

288 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Flowerdale joins it on the west, and Torridon and
Coulin on the south and south-west ; it is very
rocky, steep ground, off which in 1895 thirty-five
stags were killed.

FOREST OF KINLOCH-LUICHART BY DINGWALL.

This forest, the property of Lady Ashburton,
my map of the deer forests puts at just over 20,000
acres, but from other good sources it is estimated
at from 42,000 to 45,000 acres, including some 10,000
acres of grouse ground. It marches with Fannich on
the west, with Braemore and Strathvaich on north and
north-east, with sheep ground on the east, and Achanalt
on the south. The house, barely a mile from the
station, is finely placed, looking over Loch Luichart
and on to some of the highest hills of the forest,
which rise to 3,000 feet. It is a long narrow estate,
with a flat boggy strath running through it, a give and
take ground, off which the deer are easily shifted and
equally as easily put on to from the adjacent forests,
a matter which renders the stalking more exciting

ROSS-SHIRE. 289

and difficult than is the case when the sport is
pursued on places with a squarer formation. There
is one very large fine corrie kept as a sanctuary which
is always full of good stags at the beginning of the
season, so that on the management of this corrie
depends a great deal of the Kinloch-Luichart sport.
Should it be left quite quiet and no disturbance
made near it until the stags begin to break out
in small parties to seek the hinds, then a good few
of these big fellows may be got, but on the other
hand, should there by any mischance be any dis-
turbance of this corrie earlier in the season, then
away go the bulk of its occupants to the grounds
of Strathvaich and Achanalt, which they seem to
prefer to those of Fannich or Braemore on the
west and north. In the season of 1892 thirty-seven
good beasts were got, the heaviest of which was
17 stone, while the lot averaged 15 stone clean. In
1895 Mr. Taylor had this forest in conjunction with
Fannich, and "The Field" states his total kill was
fifty-seven stags, but does not mention any weights.

2 p

290 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF LECKMELM BY LOCII BROOM.

This property, of about 10,000 acres, belongs to
Mr. A. G. Pirie, who purchased it, in 1879, from
Colonel Davidson of Tulloch, and commencing to
clear it in 1882, he has always retained it in his
own hands. It lies on the north side of Loch Broom,
and running in a direction from south-west to north-
east, forms an oblong-shaped ground of about nine
miles long by four at the widest parts. On the north
it marches with Rhidorrach, on the south-east with
Inverlael and Glenbeg, while on each side of
Leckmelm there is an unbroken stretch of thirty
miles of afforested lands. The highest altitude is
reached on the summit of Mealldhu, 2,205 ^^^^, the
next highest hill being Beineiltach, 1,800 feet, the
base of which is well wooded, while as it offers splendid
shelter in all seasons, it is kept as a sanctuary.

When the ground was first afforested, a number
of hind calves were reared as a breeding stock,
which are still carefully preserved and fed during

ROSS-SHIRE. 291

winter. The ground works best on a westerly wind ;
the annual kill at present is fifteen stags, which vary-
in mean weight, according to the season ; in 1887
the average was 15 stone 6 lbs., and in 1892, 14 stone
9 lbs. ; in each case heart and liver being included.

About the year 1590, Leckmelm was the scene of
a desperate fight between the proscribed Caithness
clan of Gun and the Earl of Sutherland's men.
The former were seeking refuge in the Western Isles
when they were overtaken by the Earl's men
" at a spot called Leckmelm," and were eventually
defeated with such great loss that but few of the
Clan Gun remained to tell the tale.

FORESTS OF LETTEREWE, FISHERFIELD, AND ARDLAIR
BY ACHNASHEEN.

This property, originally belonging to the Mac-
kenzies of Gairloch, was bought from them by Mr.
Meyrick Bankes, a Liverpool gentleman, who used to
stalk it from his yacht, in harbour at Poolewe, while in
conjunction with the deer he kept a large head of

292 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

sheep, well known for their excellence of quality.
Mr. Bankes, however, got many good heads and
heavy beasts during his time, but dying in 1880, he
left Letterewe House with the policies to his widow,
while the remainder of the forest with Fisherfield
was willed to one of his daughters, who married
a French gentleman of the name of Liot, and Mr.
and Mrs. Liot-Bankes are the present owners of
the property, which they let to Mr. J. F. Laycock,
while they themselves reside in a beautifully-placed
house on the shores of Loch Maree. This ground
was first let clear of sheep in 1883, to Mr. Charles
Perkins, who spent large sums in buildings, improve-
ments and forest paths, to which Mr. Laycock has
also added considerably. Including the lands of
Ardlair and Fisherfield, the forest has an area of
about 45,000 acres, many parts of which are very
steep, rough walking, while other portions afford
both excellent grazing and shelter. The stags mostly
winter on the slopes of the Loch Maree hills, or on
the low grounds near the sea, while the hinds chiefly

HOSS-SHIRE. 293

affect the Strathnashellag side. It is a forest that
can be stalked in all winds, but as usual an easterly
one is the worst. Mr. Laycock gets his bag entirely
by stalking ; he uses no dogs, and the deer are usually
brought home the same day they are killed. Three
and sometimes four rifles can take the hill, and their
average each season, since Mr. Laycock has had
Letterewe, has been just under one hundred stags,
the best season being one hundred and twelve,
which showed a mean clean weight of 13 stone
5 lbs., but this would have worked out much higher
had a good few "rotten" and bad stags not been
included in the list, which, although they were
only killed off to make room for better ones, were
yet weighed and taken into account.

In the season of 1895 Mr. Laycock, who was
yachting during the stalking time, sent a friend
up to Letterewe with a limit of forty stags, which
were, of course, easily got. There are many hills,
ranging from 2,800 to 2,000 ft. On the south
the forest marches with those of Flowerdale and

294 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Kinlochewe, the rest of the boundaries being sheep
ground.

Mr. Laycock's best day in the forest since he first
took it, in 1889, has been seven stags, and the heaviest
stag in that time was killed by Mr. Perkins on
the Maighdean, a ten-pointer of 20 stone alb. On
Christmas Eve, 1890, Mr. Laycock shot a very old,
perfectly milk-white hind that had been on the ground
long before he came. She was only shot from a
conviction that she would not last through the winter,
for she had been barren for the three previous seasons,
although in the years in which she had calves they
were always of the ordinary colour. This remarkable
beast has been set up whole by Rowland Ward.
Mr. Laycock also got a light-coloured royal stag,
which was incorrectly spoken of as " the white stag."
This beast he had previously missed, and altogether
he had been shot at nine times ere he received the
fatal bullet. On the very steep slope of the
Maighdean Mrs. Mitchell Innes, the lessee's sister,
made a remarkable bit of good shooting as she was

JiOSS-Sff/JiE. 295

slithering after the stalker down the south side of this
hill. Some stags below them got their wind, and
breaking in all directions, Mrs. Mitchell Innes picked
out two of the best, killing them right and left, when
going at full gallop in opposite directions, and though
the beasts were rightly struck, unfortunately they
rolled down the very steep hill, both being much
smashed up. It was in this forest that the celebrated
deerstalker. Black Finlay Macrae, lived with his
master, Mackenzie of Gairloch. It was his duty to
keep the larder well supplied with venison, which for
many years was an easy matter ; after a time,
however, Finlay began to find a great difficulty in
getting stags, and eventually he discovered that some
poacher was ever in front of him in most of his
stalking trips, so much so that venison became quite
scarce in his master's house, while reproaches were
heaped on him for his want of skill. For a long time
Finlay had thought that the poacher was a certain
Big Donald Kennedy, and at last one morning he
surprised him in the act of gralloching a newly-killed

296 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

deer, so, creeping close up to him, Finlay called out :
" Well, Donald, the sport has been yours, but the deer
must be mine ! " Donald sprang to his feet, grasped
the knife already in his hand, while answering : " It
will just be the best man who will get it!" Finlay
also having drawn his knife, the two closed and were
instantly locked in a struggle for life, which resulted
in Big Donald being left dead on the hill. Finlay at
once returned home, and fearing the revenge of
Kennedy's relations, who were powerful and numerous,
he, his wife, child, and father started off that night
for Glen Strathfarrar, which they reached in safety by
dint of carefully hiding all day and travelling only
in the dark, and then choosing a convenient place,
they built themselves a hut at the foot of Sgur-na-
Lappich, in which they hoped to pass the time till the
excitement caused among Big Donald's relations had
subsided. Some months later, when Finlay was out
stalking, five of the Kennedys suddenly appeared at
his hut and killed Finlay's father and child while they
were at work in a field near by. When Finlay

ROSS-SHIRE. 297

returned home and saw what had happened, he in his
turn vowed vengeance, so setting out quite alone for
Gairloch, he discovered who the five men were, and got
a friend to point him out their dwelHng. Thither
he wended his way towards evening, and watching
their house until he had counted them all inside, he
waited patiendy until midnight ; then he crept to
the unbolted door, and entering noiselessly, in three
blows he killed three of the Kennedys before they
were awake. The other two made a desperate fight,
but eventually they also were slain in fair combat ;
then setting fire to the house, Finlay departed
again to his wife and home at the foot of Sgur-
na-Lappich. Shortly after this, when Finlay was
working in his field, seeing six men approaching, he
at once divined their mission, but being quite unarmed,
he walked boldly up to them, to be met with the
question : " Do you know which is the house of Black
Finlay ?" To this he replied, " It is just where I left
it." " You know him then ? " asked the party. " No
doubt," answered the intrepid Finlay, " for I keep his

2 Q

298 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

cattle." " Then show us where he is ! " cried they,
whereupon Finlay led the way into his house, on reach-
ing which he called out to his wife, who had seen the
approaching party and quickly guessed their advent
boded no good, " Is the man of the house at home ?"
With ready wit she said, " He is on his bed, so you can
come in if you want him, for maybe he will not rise
for ye." On hearing this the whole party entered the
house, when Finlay, springing to where his gun and
dirk laid, turned and cried : " The man of the house is
here — who seeks him .'' " The strangers, taken by
surprise, hastened to break out of the small room so as
to get a better chance of attacking Finlay, but a ball
from his gun killed the first, the butt-end slew the
next two in two successive blows, and closing with the
other three in a hand-to-hand fight, favoured by the
cramped space, he mortally wounded two more of his
assailants, while the third fled unhurt to the hills.
Two such daring deeds, coupled with the slaying of
eleven strong men by his single hand, earned Finlay
such a reputation and respect that he was ever after

ROSS-SHIRE. 299

allowed to rest in peace, so that eventually he returned
to the service of his master in Gairloch, while to com-
memorate his prowess the highest hill in the district
was called Ben Fionnlaidh, or Ben Finlay, a name
which it keeps to the present day.

On this estate of Letterewe some very remarkable
proceedings were taken in 1840 by Mr, Bankes,
for the destruction of a boat-shaped monster called
" The Beast," which the natives declared dwelt in
a loch on the property called " Loch-na-beiste,"
after the monster. In the year above mentioned
a deputation of Mr. Bankes' tenants waited on him
for the express purpose of begging him to undertake
the destruction of "the beast," and although, as may
easily be imagined, he at first turned a very deaf
ear to the suggestion, he eventually yielded later
on to the sworn testimony of one Sandy McLeod,
an elder of the kirk, who together with two other
most respectable people who were with him jointly
and severally vowed they had seen "the beast,"
which evidence being quickly corroborated by that of

30O THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Other people equally credible, Mr. Bankes allowed
himself to be persuaded to take steps for the destruc-
tion of the monster. An attempt was forthwith
made to draw off the water from Loch-na-beiste,
which resulted in reducing the depth to six feet,
except in one part where there was a hole of some
fifteen feet deep, and this was therefore the only
place in the loch which held sufficient water to hide
" the beast." Into this fourteen barrels of raw lime
were poured at once, a proceeding which caused
the death of most of the trout in the loch, while
the "great beast" remained undiscovered, and from
that time forward no further attempts have been
made to molest him.

FOREST OF MONAR BY BEAULY.

This ground belongs to Mr. Stirling of Fairburn,
who keeps it in his own hands. It has an area
of some 20,000 acres, entirely surrounded by other
forests ; Achnashellach lies on the north ; on the
west and south are Attadale and Glencannich, and

HOSS-SHIHE. 30 «

on the east come Struy and Strathconan. I have
not been able to obtain any reliable information as
to the number of stags got, or their weight, but
report says that fifty to sixty are killed each season.
The highest ground rises to 3,452 feet.

PATT, KILLILAN, RIOCHAN, AND GLOMACH BY BEAULY.

These lands, of some 15,000 acres, are the property
of Sir Kenneth Matheson, who at one time let
them to Lord Lovat, who sub-let them to Mr.
Winans. The grounds march with the forests of
Glencannich, Attadale, Monar, and Braulen, and are
very steep and interspersed with large mosses. The
lodge is an out of the way place, some thirty miles
from Beauly, the last six miles of the journey being
most easily performed in a boat on Loch Morar.
The lands of Patt and Riochan are the chief haunts
of the hinds, while those of Killilan are the abode
of the stags, and thus sport is assured from the
middle of August to the end of the season. It
carries two rifles, who should get from forty to

302 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

fifty Stags, which in good years average 15 stone
clean.

THE FOREST OF RHIDORRACH, BY ULLAPOOL.

This fine deer ground — the pioneer of the Ross-
shire forests — is the property of the Countess of
Cromartie, and extends over some 40,000 acres of
rocky hills, deep glens, bold corries, and occasional
flats, interspersed with many a loch. Of these
lands, 25,000 acres are under deer, the remaining
15,000 acres being grouse shooting over sheep ground
skirting the cleared portion on the west and north ;
as however the forest proper is not fenced off in any
way, deer are to be met with over the whole place.
The big glen of Rhidorrach, " the dark forest," on
the south side of which is a sanctuary upwards of
three miles in length, runs from east to west for
some ten miles through the centre of the ground,
the lowest level of which varies from a mile to a
mile and a half in breadth, and consists of one
uninterrupted stretch of magnificent green pasture.

ROSS-SHIRE. 303

On either side of the glen the hills are covered at
their bases with woods of birch and fir ; as the
wood ceases, they rise in more or less steep or
undulating slopes, until in some parts they reach
an altitude of 3,000 feet. Amongst these tall hills
may be mentioned those of Knockdamph, the " hill
of the stag"; Benvrick, the "speckled mountain,"
and Beneiltach, the "hill of the hinds." On the
south these lands are skirted by the deer ground
of Leckmelm, while Corriemulzie joins it on the
east. Three rifles can go out daily, to whom
William Sutherland, the head forester, strongly
recommends cloth of green and yellow mixtures as
best suited to this ground, where the bag is
made entirely by stalking. In 1895 the tenant,
Mr. Molyneux Clarke, killed fifty-three stags, while
the average weight of beasts for the years 1893,
1894, and 1895 worked out at 14 stone 12 lbs.,
quite clean, which is a matter to be proud of. A
previous tenant of this forest, Captain T. S. Starkey,
late of the 9th Lancers — "Tom" Starkey of his

304 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

intimates, and with whom I had several friendly
tussels behind the traps in the days when he shot"
pigeons so successfully — witnessed a curious incident
in Rhidorrach, when on one occasion he had wounded
a stag, which, going slowly off, while bleeding freely,
was seen to be attacked by a fox !

In the days of Mr. Hay Mackenzie, of Cromartie
— the great-grandfather of the present proprietrix —
and long before Rhidorrach was regularly afforested,
there were a number of very heavy stags on the
ground, for Mr. Mackenzie had his deer fed by
hand all through the winter, with the result that
stags could be seen there as early as May with
royal heads from which the velvet was nearly
ready to drop. Two of these big fellows became
comparatively tame, and were christened "Bill" and
" Bean," one of them having a most remarkable head,
and easily known anywhere. This beast, imprudently
straying beyond the bounds of safety, became the
victim of a noted deer poacher, who, having dis-
posed of his ill-gotten meat, became fearful of

JiOSS-SHIJiE. 305

parting with the head on account of its marked
peculiarities. Suspicion at once fell on Poacher
Finlay, and Mr. Hay Mackenzie used all sorts of
persuasion to recover the head of the missing
stag, until at length he was reduced to offering
the thief five pounds with a free pardon — a liberal
bid, which procured him the restoration of the lost
trophy. Mr. Mackenzie eventually gave this head
to the Lord Londonderry of that period, which to
this day is a treasured ornament of the walls of
Mount Stuart in County Down ; that this is a
reputation well earned may readily be supposed when
it can be stated it had nineteen fine points, a span of
40 inches, a right horn of 32 inches in length, with a
circumference of 7 inches just above the coronet,
the left horn being but a trifle smaller, and a drawing
of it still hangs in the dining-room of Rhidorrach.

FOREST OF SCATWELL BY MUIR OF CRD.

This ground, cleared for upwards of the last
twenty years, belongs to Sir W. J. Bell, and extends

2 K

3o6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

to some 10,000 acres, of which about 2,000 acres
are wood. It marches with the forests of Strath conan
and CorriehaUie, the highest ground being on Carn
William, 2,300 feet. With a favourable wind two
rifles can go out, while considering the fact that this
ground is on the extreme outside limit for deer,
and that it is the lowest possible for them in the
district, the kill of twenty to twenty-five stags of 14
stone each season is a remarkably good one, a
triumph chiefly due to the fine feeding, coupled with
good shelter, afforded to the deer during the winter.
As large numbers of hinds from other forests come
in to Scatwell to drop and rear their calves. Sir
William proves himself a good neighbour by not
permitting any hinds ever to be shot.

FOREST OF SHIELDAIG BY ACHNASHEEN.

This is one of Sir Kenneth Mackenzie's forests
and has been let to Mr. Charles Rudd for several
years past, who gave it up at the end of season

JiOSS-Sff/RE. 307

1895. ^t marches with Torridon and Flowerdale,
its 7,600 acres being devoid of wood, or any hill
higher than 2,400 feet. It will carry one rifle, but
no information has been procurable as to the total kill
or weights, though probably the latter are similar
to those of Flowerdale and Torridon.

FOREST OF STRATHCONAN BY MUIR OF ORD.

The whole of this estate of some 73,000 acres
was purchased in 1839 by Mr. Balfour of Whit-
tinghame, who in 1841 commenced to clear the
sheep off portions of the ground, until, in 1877, the
forest covered 27,500 acres, when Mr. R. H. Combe
purchased it, and like Mr. Balfour, he maintains
the same kindly friendship with his tenants and
neighbours. The forest is most wild and rugged,
there being many hills over 3,000 feet, while as
the strath is unusually steep and narrow, it is
subject to violent storms and floods. This ground
has yielded more than one hundred stags in the
season, but the number was found to be greater

3o8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

than it would fairly stand, and the kill has been
judiciously reduced to seventy-five or eighty.

These lands were the scene of the defeat of one of
the Lords of the Isles by the Mackenzies, who were
routed with great slaughter. Later on the forest was
again a witness of one of those Culloden atrocities,
then so prevalent amongst the victorious soldiery
of the King of England, for a party of fugitives from
the battle-field, having taken refuge in a cave on
Strathconan, were surrounded and smoked or burnt
to death by means of large piles of lighted heather
placed at the entrance of their hiding-place.

FOREST OF TORRIDON, BV TORRIDON.

An ancient charter of 1584 shows that these
lands then belonged to the Macdonnells of Glen-
garry, while up to the present day nineteen families of
that name still dwell in Alligen on Loch Torridon.
It was one of these Macdonnells who, when on a
marauding expedition to one of the Western Isles,
being hard pressed for food, came on a party of

ROSS-SHIRE. 309

natives just finishing the out-door cooking of a
savoury meal in a large pot suspended over the
fire from a tripod. The Torridon man dashed
rashly into their midst armed with nothing better
than an oak cudgel, and raining blows on every side,
the surprised natives fled in all directions. Thrusting
his oak staff through the handle of the pot, the
famishing hero swung it from off the fire on to his
back, making off to his friends with his prize, quite
regardless of scorched shoulders.

For this exploit he received the name of Darach
or Darroch, which is Gaelic for oak, and from this
dashing Highlander are descended the present-day
Darrochs — one of them, Mr. Duncan Darroch,
being now the owner of Torridon Forest.

In 1610 the Mackenzies were in possession of
Torridon, and at Loch-an-Fheidh, on the west side
of Sgur Dubh in Torridon, a sanguinary battle was
fought between them and the McLeods, resulting in
the nearly total extinction of the latter-named clan,
whose killed were buried where they fell, and their

3T0 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

graves are still pointed out. The present Torridon
Forest covers ii,6oo acres, which consist almost
entirely of high rocky peaks with deep valleys,
although near the house there is a growing
plantation which will shortly afford the deer better
winter shelter than they get at present, which they
have hitherto found in the very deep valleys lying
between the many high and rocky hills. Amongst
these may be mentioned Liathgach, or the Blue
Hill, 3,456 feet ; and Ben AUigen, or the Jewel
Hill, 3,232 feet; while there are several others just
over or just under 3,000 feet. In accordance with
the prevailing rockiness of this ground, the best
colours in which the stalker can array himself are a
Black Mount mixture, or a very light green Lovat
cloth. The annual kill is thirty stags, which for
the past twenty years have averaged, weighed with
heart and liver, 12 stone loj lbs., no allowance
ever being made if any stag happened to be left
a night on the hill. About 1880 a rose-coloured
starling or pastor was shot here, which is now

ROSS-SHIRE. 311

in Mr. Darroch's possession at Torridon ; while
later on in 1887 Her Majesty made that part of
Scotland supremely proud by a stay of a week
at Gairloch — a matter which is duly and happily
recorded in "More Leaves from the Journal of a
Life in the Highlands."

it€ THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

Chapter X.
SUTHERLANDSHIRE.

FORESTS OF BEN IIEE AND CORRY KINLOCH BY LAIRG,
GLENDHU, GLENCOUL, AND BEN STROME BY KYLE
STROME, GOBERNUISGACH BY LAIRG, LOCH MORE
BY LAIRG, STACK BY LAIRG.

The whole of these lands belong to the Duke of
Sutherland, although for nearly the last thirty years
they have been rented by the Duke of Westminster,
who keeps the properties of Lochmore, Ben Strome,
Glendhu, and Glencoul in his own hands. On the
north these lands march with the forests of Stack and
Gobernuisgach, on the east with Ben Hee, on the
west with the sea and Scourie sheep-ground, and
on the south with Assynt. Lochmore Lodge, of

•, • > '• J

o

Q
O

c

u
o

SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 313

which a drawing is annexed, is beautifully placed
at the west end of the loch of that name, with a grand
look-out on to the stony slopes of the summit of Ben
Arkle, which rises to 2,500 feet. The house was
enlarged and nearly rebuilt in 1866, when the present
Duke of Westminster, then Lord Grosvenor, took over
the whole of the Reay Forest from the late Lord
Dudley, which ancient hunting ground of the Lords
of Reay then consisted of the properties at present
forming Ben Hee, Gobernuisgach, Lochmore, and
Stack, which have long ceased to exist as a whole, and
no single one of them can now lay claim to the title of
"the Reay" forest. From the time it came into the
Duke of Westminster's hands he has spared no
pains to improve the deer, and in this he has been
highly successful, for when he took it, in 1866, the
whole ground yielded 130 stags, averaging 15 stone
7 lbs. quite clean, a very fine mean weight, on
which it might have been thought impossible to
improve, but nevertheless, in 1894, that good year,
the same ground yielded 188 stags, making the

2 s

314 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

very remarkable, unsurpassed average of i6 stone
6 lbs. ; and here also it may be as well to mention
that both at Lochmore and Kyle Strome the weigh-
ing is most carefully done, while it is but seldom
that two consecutive days pass without the Duke
himself visiting the larder to witness the performance.
The following statistics will show how quickly
deer increase with proper treatment and care. On
the 23rd of October, 1884, the Duke ordered a
count to be made over the whole ground, by each
forester on his respective beat, with the following
result : —

Ben Stack and Ben Arkle .

Ben Hee ....

Altnarynie, a beat on the
north shore of Lochmore

Gobernuisgach .

Lone ....

Sheep-ground .

Others of

Stags.

all sorts.

112

177

145

607

269

405

209

410

78

156

54

126

867

1,881

SUTHERLANDSHIRE.

315

Early in November of 1894 another count took

;, which resulted as under :

Lochmore Side

Stags.

35

Others of
all sorts.

300

Lone . . . .

159

347

Altnarynie

109

543

Stack and Ben Arkle

146

239

Kyle Strome .

233

128

Glendhu .

221

300

Glencoul .

220

138

Gobernuisgach .

180

642

Ben Hee or Merkland

128

800

i.43t 3.437
This shows an increase in ten years of 564 stags,
together with 1,556 "others of all sorts." It must
not, however, be overlooked that soon after 1884 the
greater part of what is described in that count as
sheep ground was cleared, and appears in the reckoning
of 1894 as Kyle Strome, Glendhu and Glencoul. The
forest ground at present held by the Duke will easily
carry four rifles, and even five can take the hill at die

3i6 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

same time. The home beat and Altnarynie are worked
from Lochmore ; Ben Strome beat can be worked
either from there or from the Duke's other lodge at
Kyle Strome, the two being some eight miles apart,
and a tramp over the ground separating the two lodges,
rifle in hand, with William Elliot as stalker, on a nice
fine clear day, is all that the most ardent lover of sport
or admirer of scenery could desire. I had the good
fortune to make this happy journey on the 26th of
August of last year (1895), and a finer combination of
land and sea scape it would be hard to find. In ad-
dition to that I had three shots, making one abominable
miss and killing two good stags, which weighed that
same evening 1 7 stone 2 lb. and 1 5 stone quite clean ;
both of them, at this early date, were also absolutely
free of velvet, not even having rags hanging about the
coronets, but while the horns of the smaller stag
were quite black and burnished, those of the heavier
deer were still whiteish. That day I saw many other
stags clear of velvet, and in season 1893 perfectly
clean horns could be seen as early as July 20th.

SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 317

The beats of Glencoul and Glendhu are respec-
tively at the heads of sea lochs of the same names,
and, extending to some 35,000 acres, they are most
pleasantly and luxuriously worked by the " More
Vane," " Big Witch," a screw steam yacht of about
65 tons ; not the least pleasant part of the day
spent in these distant forest beats was the steam to
the head of Glencoul, there to meet John Elliot,
a brother of the before-mentioned William of that ilk.
Both at Lochmore and Kyle Strome the delights of
punctuality were assured, and the boat of the " More
Vane" was ever ready at the quay, with steam up
to the very minute ordered, and, reader, in spite of
the fifty to sixty inch rainfall of these parts, of which
during my stay I got more than a fair allowance, there
can yet be most splendid, brightly sunny days in
these high latitudes, when in the fresh beauty of
such a morning, with glorious views all around, with
sea-birds diving and flying about in all directions, the
ten mile steam to our respective destinations (for one
rifle was disembarked at Glendhu, the other going

3i8 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

on to Glencoul) was the very pleasantest way of
reaching a forest beat that it has ever been my
lot to experience. At the end of the day the
return home in the dusk, with the after-glow of the
sunset showing the black outline of the hills against
the pale sky, while the throb of the screw, the hiss
of the water surging white from the stern, the dim
ghostly forms of a couple of dead stags lying on
the deck, and the weird call of the various sea-divers
startled by the yacht, all tended to send one home
in a peculiarly happy, contented frame of mind.
On the eastern boundaries of these two beats is the
hill of Ben Leod, which is 3,579 ft. in height, but over
the whole ground there are other hills reaching to
nearly 3,000 ft., and more than twenty of them are
over 2,000 ft. In the bitterly severe winters of 1894
and 1895 Loch More, which had never before been
known to freeze, was coated with four inches of ice,
while on Loch Stack in some places it reached fifteen
inches in thickness.

The Stack forest the Duke sub-let for season 1895

SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 319

to Earl Cairns, who is equally good with either
gun or rifle. The lodge is well placed at the west
end of Loch Stack, just where the Laxford river
runs out of it, both waters being renowned for their
salmon and sea trout. The lodge is, however,
somewhat exposed to the westerly gales, for when
a real strong blow comes, it is not unusual for all
the windows facing the wind to be broken by the
small pebbles driven against them by the force of the
gale. The tenant is limited to forty stags, a number
which it is his own fault if he does not get. Ben
Stack and Ben Arkle, one on each side of the Laxford,
are two remarkable steep, stony hills on this ground.
Ben Hee and Corry-Kinloch the Duke sub-lets to
Mr. M. E. Sanderson of Wakefield, and never did I
feel more sorry for any sportsman than when I called
on this gentleman on my way from Lochmore this
season of 1895, only to find him, on a splendid stalking
day with no end of "big fellows" on the hill, laid
by the heels (or perhaps the toes would be more
accurate), with a foot wrapped in wool resting on a

320 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

chair — that horrid and mysterious gout ! to which so
many of my friends are martyrs in spite of the most
careful self-denial in diet, whilst I and many others,
who eat and drink without a thought, never so much as
suffer even a passing pang. Ben Hee is good for forty
stags, which are usually obtained; in 1894 the total
was thirty-five, averaging 14 stone 12 lbs. quite clean.
Ben Hee is beautiful stalking ground, with the lodge
pleasantly placed at the west end of Loch Merk-
land, on the high road from Lairg to Scourie. Mr.
Sanderson is one of the best of tenants, and like the
Duke, he stops stalking about the 4th of October,
but if he were not to do this, he could easily put
another score of very big deer into the larder, for the
north beat of his ground on the green face sloping
up from the road is the great hind resort of these
parts, and as one drives from Lairg to Lochmore,
or vice versa, they can be seen in such numbers by
the naked eye that counting them without stopping
the " machine " for the purpose is quite out of the
question.

SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 321

The forest of Gobernuisgach, called " Gober " for
the sake of shortness, is situate to the north of Loch-
more, and is sub-let to Sir Walter Corbet. The house
was built in 1847, somewhat in a hurry, by the then
Duke of Sutherland, with a view of entertaining the
late Prince Consort, in the event of Her Majesty pay-
ing a visit to Dunrobin in the following year. The
stags are very heavy, the bag is limited to forty, and
in 1893 the first thirty-three beasts Sir Walter killed
averaged 17 stone 3^ lbs. quite clean, which is the
finest average weight ever recorded for such a number
of stags, and a splendid illustration of what can
be done on fine feeding ground worked with care
and good management. Apart from the fact of
these forests being admirably suited to deer, a great
deal must be attributed to the Duke's action in killing
no stags after the 3rd or 4th of October, and the
introduction of fresh blood from various English
parks.

2 T

322 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

FOREST OF KINLOCH BY TONGUE.

This is another of the Duke of Sutherland's
properties, first afforested in 1890, and let then to
Mr. W. E, Lawson, who still holds it. It consists
of nearly 40,000 acres, the valleys of which con-
tain birch and alder. The tops of the high lands
are rocky and sterile, and of these Ben Hope is
the highest (3,040 feet) ; there are, however, many
fine grassy corries. It marches with Gobernuisgach
on the south, while the boundaries in other quarters
are sheep grounds. It carries two rifles, and since
it was cleared in the five seasons ending 1894 it
has averaged twenty-nine stags, which, taking one
with the other, work out at 14 stone 5 lbs. The
tenant was last season witness of a cunning trick
on the part of a big stag which he was stalking on
a mossy flat, dotted with many pools of black peat
water. The stag Mr. Lawson was after had several
hinds with him, which he was zealously guarding.
On his way up to his quarry he was compelled to put

SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 323

away a small beast, which ran off to join the big one,
the two trotting off amicably together, much to the
surprise of the stalking party. The big stag having
led his young friend a trot of about half a mile,
suddenly stopped at the edge of a black water hole,
and then, after retreating a few yards, charged the
small stag broadside on, knocking him head over
heels into the pool, in which for a moment staggie
completely disappeared from view ; eventually,
however, he scrambled out, making off as hard
as he could in a direction different to that taken by
the big stag.

The remaining three forests of this county all
belong to the Duke of Sutherland. Ben Armine
by Golspie covers some 35,000 acres, and lies
between the Helmsdale and Brora rivers, and is
kept in the Duke's own hands. Glencanisp, a forest
of about 35,000 acres of very fine and steadily
improving deer ground, marches with Drumrunie on
the south and Ben More on the west ; it is at present
rented by Lord Brownlow, who kills some thirty-five

324 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND.

to forty Stags each season, and in favourable ones they
will make the heavy average of nearly i6 stone clean.
Uppat Forest, which is attached to the Duke's beauti-
fully-situated house by the sea at Dunrobin, although
covering some 12,000 acres, may almost be regarded
as a vast deer park lying at the back of the castle.
The Duke very kindly promised me particulars of
each of these deer grounds, but owing to the illness
of his friend and factor, the well-known and much-
liked Mr. Mclver of Scourie, I have been unable
to get details in time for publication.

THE END.

LONDON : FSINTSD BY WU. (XOWBS AND SONS, LTD., STAMFOKS STE£ET ANC CHAKINC CKOSS.

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